The Express. — London, England, 1855-01-08 00:00:00

FRENCH LOAN.—Thelia are informed that wow...sots have boo mode h oer home to maws APPLI CATIONS for say mount of Stock la Um above LOAN. prodoaag friar or can ref won Si Tam per Oiata. or 43 frame fa Tsar aollo-lialf per Dist& Dips& le per mt.. puede on oppbootioo. Far harm 93 froCo.m fir the pm/ ofef dog. A. lICHWARZSCIULD sad 911. Looloolotroa. THE NEW RETURN OF NEWSPAPER STAMPS. The return of newspaper stamps jut Weed gives the following tosalli: _ Fine Quarts,. &mai Quarter. Daily Hews . . 319,191 348,044 Morning Herald . . 303,000 299,000 Mersin Post . . 206,000 226,000 Mensisg Climatal*. . 162,600 186,000 Express . . 177,133 198,389 Oloie . . 175,000 Iha . lllaadari . . 168,000 192,000 . 109,000 104.00 Mitt entreoo• TO CORRUPONDINTS. • Mad Mks d .71ia Expram," ematslaing U. ram evirsises "Owntle." r.oblibod ovary Thsiday aad Friday sight, ia tido id=owis k. followlid la .110 Immo; Landon Evenrig paw, Kukla at es.olllso. 10. liwavoriwzoot. by Two rig:oak as timi lor el poillisoloa. HIGH WATU AT LONDON BRIDGE. lbw Dav—lllenieg, eli. 4 Atterava, sk. Itika. Teenszaw—ilkaubi, Attersoon, 57m. LONDON. MONDAY. JANUARY 8. LATEST NEWS FROM ABROAD THE CRIMEA. CRIMEA, Dsc. 22. Since the departure of the division of General Liprsodi for Baktchi-Serai and Simpheropol, in antici pation of a movement on the side of Eupatoria, no more mama of Russians have been seen. They keep in their positions on the Belbeck, but are busily occupied in digging up the ground both in the town and the country. The French batteries are all armed, but the English works, unfortunately, do not advance with all the celerity that could be desired. For the last two days the weather hu been fine, and the sun shines brightly. The English cavalry, with a body of French infantry, have just returned into camp, after making a reconnaissance on the side of the Tchernsya. They have seen nothing beyond a poet of from 200 to 300 men, who, on the ap proach of the allies, promptly retired towards the mountains.—Deily. News. BERLIN. SONDAT. JAL 7. A despatch has been received here from Bt. Petersburg, dated Sunday, 7th inst. It says: " Under date of the 30th of December, Prince hfentchilioff writes that nothing important had taken place before Sebastopol. " The fire of the enemy (the Allies) wu very feeble, causing us (the &miens) scarcely any damage."— Times. ACCEPTANCE BY RUSSIA OF THE BASIS OF THE Foua POINTS. VIENNA, JAN. 7. Prams Gortehakoff received yesterday an order from the Czar to negotiate at once with Boot, Bow queney, and Westmorland on the basis of the Four Conditions, as interpreted by the Allies in the Protocol of the 28% of December. The Plenipotentiaries met to-day to deliberate, and it is anticipated that the result of this important conference will be known to-morrow (Monday).— Post. VIENNA, MONDAY, JAN. 8, 10 AM. Prince Gortchakoff, at the Conference held yes terday, accepted the Four Propositions without reserve.—Second Edition of the Times.. PIEDMONT AND THE WAR. The King of Piedmont, in receiving the deputa tions of the Legislative Corps and Senate on the first day of the year, said :—" We have just finished a year of severs trials. That which is opening does not present itself under better auspices, and perhaps we shall be called on to take part in the great affairs now going on in Europe ; bat strong in your constant support, I await the future with confi dence."—Daily News. SPAIN. (TILLIODAPHIC DISPATCH.) MADRID, JAW. 6. M. Serillano will present his budget to the Cortes on Monday or Tuesday. In the ministerial bill no thing is said of a tax upon the Eight per Cent. Debt. The payment of arrears will begin on the lath, and that of the Coopoos of December 31 will be made as promptly as possible. THE REVENUE. Tim Revenue accounts, which we published on Saturday, demand a little more consideration than we could then give them. A great importance attaches to the increase in the Customs Revenue for the quarter, from the circumstance that with the exception of a change in the sugar duties, which on the lower clue of sugars gives a slightly increased rate of duty, nearly the whole inereue arises from an increase of consumption. The tea duties are 4d. per pound less than in the last quarter of 1863 ; all the other Customs duties continue at the same rate as last year; and the increase in the revenue in the quarter, 684,0721., is the consequent,. of more sager, tea, coffee, cocoa, currants, gloves, spirits, timber, tobacco, &a., having paid duty, than in the corresponding quarter of last year. It must, however, be stated, that in consequence of as expectation that the sugar duties might be raised, a larger quantity of sugar has latterly been released from bond than has actually entered into consumption; a circumstance which may affect the revenue for the next quarter, and which should inculcate caution in spreading reports of alterations in duties which interfere alike with trade and the revenue. The great increase in the total Customs Revenue for the quarter is the more remarkable on account of the falling off in the importation of corn during its continuance; for, compared to the corresponding quar ter last year,the decrease isscarcely lees than 1,300,000 quarter.; making a deduction from the revenue for the quarter on account of corn of 0,0001. As plenty of subsistence is the basis of all prosperity, as the 11. duty impedes Importation and stops a greet deal of trade, the evidence now supplied of its being an improper scores of revenue—failing most whoa most needed--etrengtheas the reasons we have on oceenions urged for the abolidoe of this mists • tax. The failure of hops last sea* leading te a reduction of the Excise revepue about equal to the decrease which the fallisig eff la the lar, portatioa of corn causes in 'the Customs, taehee ne, too, how precarious and improper a source of revenue is such a varying crop. In spite of this, however, the Excise has increased in the quarter 802,9521. Bat it will be remembered that the spirit and malt duties were raised in 1864, which should swell the Excise in the present quarter. Without being able to state to what degree the additional malt defies have affected consumption, we know that they have affected it to a degree greater than was anticipated by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER; suggesting that when we levy new duties we should be cautious not to interfere with industry, and not to levy them on articles of comparative luxury, which are laid aside when the price becomes exorbitant. In war we must not rely on taxes which, from ca_ price or prudential considerations, may dwindle to nothing. The increase in the Excise Duties for the quarter, u the rates have been raised, is not so sure an index to increased consumption as the increase of the Customs Duties. The tax on Income and Property is a much safer tax for the Camrcal.t.oa to rely on in war than any tax on articles of consumption. Accordingly, as far as the collection has been made, it hu yielded quite as much as was expected. In fact it was calculated that the quarter's revenue would be about 1,200,0001. more than in the corresponding quarter of last year; but it actually turns out to be 1,440,0001. or 200,0001. more than wu calculated on ; as we meant to have stated on Saturday, but the sum was, by a mistake, swelled to the unintelligible amount of 2,000,0001. Although it is too early to anticipate exactly what the Property and Income Tax will yield, it must not be forgotten, in looking forward to the future, that the very large crops of 1854 area positive addition to the materials which supply the means of contribut ing to the expenses of the State. Rent being fixed and tithe compensation settled for a series of years, the State will gain directly and immediately but little by the increased crops ; but indirectly it will gain much. They swell the national store ; they will increase the incomes of those who deal with the agriculturists ; and they will increase rent hereafter. The large crops of 1854 will add something to the yield of the Property and Income Tax io 1855. Throughout 1854, too, the monied classes have done, and are still doing, well. Their incomes must have largely increased. Even the mercantile classes who, at the end of the year, are not so well off u they expected to be, have given during its progress great employment to all connected with trade; and they will not only be able to pay the Income Tax them selves, but they will be the means, by the work they have encouraged, of enabling others to pay. " Last year was a most prosperous one," according to Mr. LINDSAY, "to the legitimate shipowners." Suppos ing the merchants overtraded, they gave high freights to the shipowners. The check their opera tions appear recently to hays experienced, by the fall ing off in exports, is but a seasonable restraint on the excessive business they have driven with Australia and the United States. Bat both these countries bays in them the elements of increas ing prosperity, and, in spite of temporary checks, partly occasioned in one by an impure system of credit, and in the other by the interference and extravagance of the Government, both will speedily recover and hereafter make rapid advances. The last advices from both are more redolent of hope than despondency. Both are peopled by energetic men bent on making themselves prosperous, and with both the trade that is now temporarily checked must speedily revive. There is not at present, therefore, any reason in the circumstances of the people to sup pose that the Income and Property Tax will not fully answer the expectations of the CHANC6LLOIt of the F. icßEcturs. At the close of 1853 great dissensions existed in the manufacturing districts, which extended far into 1854. Now there are no strikes nor any kind of die. cord in the land. One common sentiment of patriot ism unites all classes. If our exports have been checked, no mills have been stopped, none are running half-time; no furnaces have been blown out, no shops have been shut up; we are merely going forward more soberly, and probably, in the end, more success fully, than in 1833 and in the beginning of 1864. From our agricultural districts nothing is heard but a note of activity and rejoicing. Larger prices for a larger crop than ever before grew in Great Britain are everywhere stimulating the labour and the skill of the husbandman. It is one of the peculiarities of the war that it inter feres oily with the trade to Russia, and to the general astonishment, the import of hemp last month, which need to come chiefly from Russia, was greater than in the corresponding month of 1853. So after the flax market has been muck agitated through the year with apprehensions of wanting supplies, flax or substitutes for it have been obtained in tolerable abundance, and we "begin the year," says the Dundee Advertiser, " with a stook of flax goods and of jute of nearly unexampled magnitude." Again, a great appreheesion was expressed by certain brokers and dealers in the beginning of the year that we should be in terrible want of grease ; at the close of the year tallow is 12 per cent. cheaper than when war was declared. Our deficiency of Baltic timber has been made up by large supplies of American, which has fallen 30 per cent. in price since the commencement of 1854. Of Colonial produce, and of all articled generally im ported from the West, there is no other stint than our wants and means of purchase. The war is certainly coeval with a great interrup. tion to trade caused by mismanagement in the States and in our own Australian traffic; but in spite of these, war and overtrading usual causes for distress being now conjoined, our people are tolerably well employed in every branch of business. In some branches, as in iron ship building on the Clyde, and in the manufacture of arms, they are extremely well employed. Apart from the impatience at the mismanagement of the war, contentment and cheerfulness prevail throughout the land. The resources of the empire, though the war will put a strain on them, are rapidly Warming, and a judicious system of taxation, raising sufficient to carry on the war with efficiency and economy, applied only to what is earned, while it leaves the means of earning entirely free, may encourage economy and oars without much impeding the growth of the national wealth.—Daily News. RUMOURED CHANGES. There has been a low boss for some days of what the hangers-on of party love to dignify with the name of " negotiations"—of an attempt to reconstruct a certain portion of the Government. It was con fidently affirmed last night in the West-end circles that the Duke of Newcastle has tendered his resign atioo, and that " negotiations" have been opened with Bari Grey, Lord Carlisle, Sir F. Baring, and others. There was also a talk of Lord Palmerston or Sir James Graham for the War Department. It is "palpable to sense" that the difficulties of the i situation cannot be overcome by such an arrange ment as this. Some short time ego an old intriguer, lt the G* party wraith to a frial4—a Public oprr will halo a vidtim." The rawest of the Dabs of Newcistle alone would be merely doing up a victim to public anger; whereas, will* the public demands is net sacrillee;bat a gitatantes far triad meat. The public does not believe, that all the sins and shortcomings of the Cabinet are attribu table to the Doke ; or that if be be driven oat like a itapegoat into the non-official wilderness, he will carry all its offences along with him. Still less do they look for any essential addition to the vigour of the Cabinet by the secession of Earl Grey, or the Earl of Carlisle, or the like. " Greater yet must the offering be." New dim, both as regards birth and avocation, are indispensable. The exclusive rule of the Patricians has broken down : —Make way for the Plebeians, them—Doily A.m. THE WAR. THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVEN) Nfei JANUARY 8. 1855. "7 - :‘ 1:! THE ARMY BEFORE SEBASTOPOL. CllOlll Til IPICIAL saws.) DAILY BALAHLAVA, Dsc. 17 I The siege of Sebastopol makes but little progress, and every one is more or less dispirited, because the 1 commander-in-chief seems determined to reduce the place by artillery, and because, to all appearance, he will not allow our men to go in and fight it out with the Russians. Our Muscovite foes sally out night after night, and about twice a week a grand sortie is made—usually against the French lines. On these occasions the Russians are invariably driven back with • good deal of slaughter and the loss of prisoners, but these small affairs have no longer any interest, even for those who take an active part in them ; and the camp, at least our own part of it, looks in silent and sullen expectation to some event calculated either to make or mar the fortunes of this campaign. In the mean while everything is more or lest, at a standstill ; the generals are waiting for the arrival of the fresh siege train and the completion of the mortar bat teries. These, it is expected, will open about the middle of next week, a day or two before Christmas. Notwithstanding the enormous difficulties, from bad roads and limited means of transport, a good many 13-inch mortars have been taken up to the front, and the huge shells they are about to throw are just now being sent up after them. For the want of something better to look forward to and hope for, every one seems agreed to expect something very wonderful from this mortar practice, though few are bold enough to confess to the hope that the mortar batteries will bring matters to a crisis. A large Russian army is said to be advancing from Perekop. The advance of this army is the most cheering news we have heard for a long time, and the general wish is that they may come on, and make another Inkermann of it, with the Russians on the wrong side of the hedge. For over and above the natural strength of our position, we have now deep ditches, wolf-traps, earth walls, and batteries bristling with cannon : and it is not boasting when I say, that no power on earth can wrest these works obt of the hands of the troops who stood the brunt of battle on the smooth assent of Inkermann. We shall eventually take Sebastopol. It may take another week, or fortnight, or month, or even quarter of a year—who can hazard a guess when all is doubt, confusion, and uncertainty? Bat Sebastopol will, and must, be taken—there can be no doubt about that. We are safe from any cumber of Rus sians that may come into the Crimea to attack us; and all our men wish is that they may come on—the more the merrier, and the sooner the better. It is not in that direction that the grumblers in the army find matter for their unwelcome occupation. This day, the 17th day of December, is the 62nd day of the siege ; aid yet, from all accounts, the real work of the reduction of the town has hardly com menced. We are to set about that work in the midst of winter, with a transport fleet greatly reduced by late accidents, with an army small compared to the vastness of the undertaking and the enormous extent of the lines which we must hold, if we mean to hold anything. Up to the present that army is exposed to the severity of the season, with nothing but old leaky tents in lieu of houses. It is true that the first batch of wooden houses came in three days ago, but I understand insuperable difficulties are in the way of their being of immediate service to nt least part ot the army. There is something so profoundly absurd about the reason why, that I almost hesitate to give you the story as it is current in the camp. It is said that the houses cannot be put up for want of nails—that the army has no nails whatever; that the Commissary General wished to buy nails from some vessel, where, it seems, seven tons of them can be bought, but that the superior officer to the Commissary General scouted the proposition, and chose to wait until nails can he sent out front Eng land. It remains to be seen whether these facts, the truth of which I still must doubt, are correct; but, if they are, I shall certainly not ex press my opinion of the merits of such management. I have not the least doubt that my statements less than the conclusions I drew from them in former letters, have met with much disbelief and contradic tion on the part of the quand mane admirers of oar military system. lam therefore justified in remind ing you that about six weeks ago I expressed my opinion that those who decided that this should be a long artillery siege, should at the same time have made sufficient preparation for wintering the troops on Sebastopol heights, while I predicted that hardly a regiment would be housed before the end of Decem ber, and that by the middle of January one half ot the army might possibly have got under shelter. We are now in the wrong half of December and every day contributes to the fulfilment of my prediction. I claim no credit in this matter beyond a very mode rate share of common sense. I have already spoken in former letters of the bad ness of the roads, the knocking up and death of oar beasts of burden, the necessity of shortening the rations of our troops, and the fact that fatigue parties from the front had to come down and carry the food for the regiments up to Sebastopol heights. I again mention these facts merely to add that they still exist, and that our men, overworked already, are fast sink ing under this additional infliction, which, though unavoidable now, might certainly have been spared them if prudence and foresight had had any voice in the management of these matters. It is above three weeks since many of the regiments in the Sebastopol front have been on half rations and now quarter rations—that is to say, a quarter of a pound of salt meat and a quarter of a pound of bread, are all the fatigue parties can manage to carry up for their com rades. Given this limited quantity of not very nutri tious aid very indigestible food,and given the concomi tant evils of long watches, constant exposure to wet and cold, and the impossibility of changing clothes, and then let the gentlemen of the faculty decide what per oentage of the men is likely to die of scorbutic dysentery. It should be recollected that on an average we have three heavy rainy days and nights in the week. On these days no fires will burn in the camp, and the men have to make their meals on raw meat, dry biscuit, a shortened allowance of rum, and muddy water. And this with wet clothes day and night, and night and day, and so hope of a change for the better, until a requisition has gone home and a cargo of nails can be sent out from England. We have now been near ten weeks at ilalaklava and on Sebastopol heights, and up to this day we have not established a single bakery in the camp. Exult rations, which should be reserved for excep. tional cues, are the general rule from which there is no exception. Now, her Majesty's ration biscuits, though excellent in their way, are not exactly the sort of food which will assifit in preserving health under difficulties. I bat quote my own experience' when I assert that the dysenteric tendency prevail ing in the camp may, among other causes, be traced to the exclusive consumption of this hard and indi gestible dough, which in a relaxed and weakened state depletive organs is apt to irritate thaw, octal: Not to man, at Wit to aid, that chro nic inflammation, the proper and vulgar name for which would, though it is mentioned daily, hourly, and without serapis or hesitation in the camp, would, nevertheless, shook the less hardened failings of people at homeif it were mentioned inyour columns. Oar men are certaialy awkward, and might do better, but since they do not display any remarkable talents foe camp cookery, is that a reason why they should die for want of food ? I believe if coffee, roasted and ground, and packed in sloes cases, were sent out and given to the men, they would at least be able to prepare for themselves a wholesome, nutri tious, agreeable and anti-mahout) beverage. Nor is it true that ground coffee deteriorates is quality. During part of last summer I used none but coffee, roasted and ground, and sold in tin oases by Grace, the canteen•man, and I certainly did not find it near so bad as the be at coffee I ever drank in the camp. It should be recollected that the article supplied by Grace was originally inferior to the ration coffee. It is with sincere joy I inform you that our troops will no longer have to take up their own provisions, and that the quarter rations will, for the time at least, give way to half and even whole rations. Admiral Boxer has been pleased to release the Jason, and that vessel arrived yesterday with 300 horses and mules for the commissariat, who now have the means of transport, until these fresh animals too are off the road. They are not likely b be serviceable for any length of time, for the roads are very heavy, and no one can exactly tell what these animals are to live on. Forage is scarce, and oar former beasts of burden died as much from hunger as from fatigue. If fresh hones can come up every fortnight, we shall do well; but if these supplies are stopped, we shall have the miseries of the last two weeks over again. The case of the hundreds of our sick that one day last week lay for hones in the mud of the beach, has attracted the notice of the Commander-in-Chief, and caused him to issue a general order against the medical department, who should have made better pre parations for the shelter and the shipping of the sick. Oae officer holding a high post in the medical staff is dismissed—another officer is severely reprimanded. I believe that after this good care will be taken of the sick that come down from the camps, and though up to the present it was impossible to provide " for them," this is not the first time that even more substan tial impossibilities have vanished at the frown of a com manding general. And because such is the power , of the officer who commands the army, for that very reason have I, in many of my letters, com plained of Lord Raglan rather than of the chiefs of departments. In so complicated, patched op, and contradictory a military organisation as that of our army, it is impossible even for men grown grey in the settee to fix the responsibility for shortcomings upon this and that individual, section of a department, or department. It is the commander-in-chief who is responsible to the country and to history—not for unfortulate accidents—but for long-continued neg lects, sufferings, and losses. With unlimited means of information, with ample powers to punish and reward, to maks or mar an officer's fortnae by a mere stroke of his pen, the general in command is the man who deserves the cre dit and reaps the reward, not for a glorious battle, but for a series of effective operation., and a successful campaign. He, too, must bear the blame, if operations remain without result, if obstacles are permitted to accumulate in the way of the army, and if the campaign remains without a legitimate success. Now that Lord Raglan is awake, I wonder whether those who manage these matters will not find means to " break the balk" of the vast quantities of medi cines sent out for the nee of the army. It is a strange fact, and it may be an accident, but I have remarked that for the last two days quinine has been less scarce than at any former period of the cam- Pair now for the affairs of Balaklava proper. Colonel Daveney, the commandant of the town, has resigned on account of ill health, and Colonel Haines, of the fist, has succeeded to the command of her Majesty's town of Balaklava. Colonel Haines is very highly spoken of as an active and energetic officer, and great hopes are founding upon his administration. The town, small as it is, offers a vast field for his energy. The mud in the streets and lanes is closely allied to that classic slush which it required a demigod to remove from the stables of Angelis; the town is over run with Greek sutlers, and infested with idle " loafing " Turks. If the gallant colonel rids us of these nuisances he will deserve well of the army and the commonwealth of Balaklava. THE CRIMEA. The Moniteur de 'Armee publishes the following extract of a letter, dated before Sebastopol, 19th ult.: " Lord Raglan came this morning to our head quarters. He is a good rider, and does not appear to feel the want of the arm which he left at Waterloo. He looks well, has a good colour, with a beard a little grey. He came without any ceremony, wearing a cap covered with oilskin. The English are the most free and easy men we know. The following, which occurs under our eyes, will appear perhaps scarcely credible. In the trenches they light a fire, make their tea, and then sitting down on the back of the trench, quietly smoke. The sentinel now and then goes and looks over the parapet, and, if he sees nothing, he comes down again amongst his comrades. A shell falls, but no one takes any notice of it. If one of the party should be hit, two of his comrades raise up and carry him away with the greatest coolness; the others do not stir. With us we are careful not to make any fire. We suffer more in the trenches from this circumstance, but we have less casualties, as the smoke of a fire forms a good mark for the enemy's batteries. The engineers continue to surround Sebastopol with their trenches, which are now at 90 metres from the place. It is at this distance that the third parallel is placed. We are prepared to establish ourselves by main force in Flagstaff bastion as soon as the English artillery shall be ready to support ours in silencing the cross fire of the enemy." A Vienna despatek in the Patrie, dated this day, says :—" Every corps of the Russian army, infantry, regular and irregular cavalry, are matching towards the Austria* frontier and the Crimea. A ukase has been published ordering the re-establishment of bridges over the Pruth." The number of troops who embarked at Marseilles from the 12th November to the 31st ult. was 11,290 infantry and 1,986 cavalry, making a total of 13,236 men. 963 horses and mules were embarked during the same period. RUSSIA. OP TES DAMP NUIPS4 ST. PETERSBURG, Due. 27. In my last letter I mentioned that the Czar had sent orders by the telegraph for Prince Paskiewitai Erivansicy to repair to this capital from his seat of government at Warsaw. Those orders were, how ever, countermanded the next day, but have now been again renewed, and we may look for his arrival here in a few days,* no doubt to spend the Christmas holidays (twelve days later than ours) at St. Peters burg. Reports are current that the aged Prince is to have the command of the army in the Crimea, or, accord ing to other accounts, of the troops on the Danube; but I am informed on good authority that, though such an offer has been male to him more than once, he has uniformly persisted in declining any active summand, as he feels that at him very advanced age he is not equal to bear the hardships inseparably con noted with an active campaign. Oa the contrary I may venture to assert that the object of Prince Paskiewitch's visit to St. Petersburg is to give the Mar an opportunity of concerting measures with the Gold marshal and viceroy for the protection of the treaders of Poland, should the threatening attitude et Austria lead to open hostilities. (PROM THI The Constilutionnel publishes the following letter from St. Petersburg, dated the 28th ult. : "Now that the two Grand Deices have returned from the Crimes, the Cesarewitch Alexander and Prince Pukiewitch are expected. The journey of • Oar Were hie dcaoatah of the 30th Deoember from Wanaw In the Doak Neon of the 4th lett wear= oar correspondent's meertiow, and ansonares the Prime's de. tartan from Warsaw tot 81. Ntorsberi.-59. this Worts caused by military and political reasons.' In his quality of oommander-in-chief of all the active army his °Onion is of paramount authority on all matters relating to the army under his orders. He recommends ofters to **summand of corps and for other employments It is he who got Pnnoe Gort shakolf appointed, first to the command of the army of the Danube, and then to that of the army of the south. It is he who had Osten-Sackett named to the 4th corps d'armee, Read - to the 3rd, Rudiger to the command in Poland, and lately Berg to the command in Finland. Above all, he has to render an account of all the measures taken for the defence of the empire in west and south-west. The following is the way in which the frontier provinces are provided with troops. In the provinces of the Baltic are the Grena diers of the Guard and of the reserve, in addition to the garrisons in the town of the coast; in Poland and Lithuania there are the let corps d'arinee, having its head-quarters at Radom, garrisons at Zamoie, Iwan gond, and Nowogeorgiewsk, two divisons of Grena dian, two divisions of the Guard, two brigades of cavalry and two of the Artillery of the Guard, the artillery and cavalry of the let corps, of which two divisions are near Kamienits and Kijow. The last named town is the centre forthe position of the reserve. From Kamiesits to Kiechenew, Odessa and Reni extend the remainder of the 3rd corps, under the or ders of Gortchekoff; the corps of the cavalry reserve, Cossaske and garrison troops, as far as Kherson and the Tanrida. The second line of this defensive posi tion is formed by the army of reserve, which has its head quarters, under the orders of Tscheodajaw, at Moscow itself. Bach are the principal points of the position which Russia has selected for displaying her armies in the face of Europe, a position which, not withstanding its great extent from St. Petersburg to Odessa, appears to many persons in this country so exceedingly strong that they would look on the ao ceptance of the four conditions as an act of shameful coOdemendence 'towards the Western Powers. M. Brok, our Minister of Finance, provides perfectly for all our wants of money. In order to ensure to the Russian merchants a sort of monopoly in the commerce of tea with China, he has had the ingenious idea of levying a duty double that paid by the native mer chants, on all teas imported from the frontiers of Siberia and Orenburg by the other merchants of Asia. This measure will have the inevitable consequence of leading to the naturalisation of the Asiatic traders as Russian subjects, or at least their inscription in the corporations of the empire, whence it follows that the new measure has, at the same time, a political bearing by bringing the non-Russian merchant under a sort of dependence with respect to our government, as. in order to save his com• mercial existence, he will be obliged to pay what is called the corporation tax. The day before yes terday a young man was so imprudent as to allow his tongue to run on somewhat too freely, which act brought him into trouble. He had remarked that the four points sent from Vienna were some what too highly salted, and that Austria seemed to have thrown into them some of the products of her saltworks of Wielicka, in order to sell them as dearly as possible. ' But,' added he, no one will be Neva that the Czar will yield as long as he has a conscript left.' These short observations were made last Thursday in a society of intimate friends at Strains. The next day, the young man received from the government a passport to proceed to his property at Saratoff, with these wo r d s : ' C ount ff will be pleased, like a good patriot, to explore his property and see if he can find any salt there, and free Russia from the necessity of obtaining her salt from other countries.'" A letter from Vienna, 2nd, in the Cologne Gazette, says: _ " It is clearly evident that Frinve, England, and Austria are very moderate in their demands, and are animated with a desire for peace. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of Russia. Prince Gorts chakoff yesterday stated in a confidential circle that the demands which had been communicated to him could not accord with the fundamental idea of Rus sian policy, and that, consequently, their acceptance at St. Petersburg would meet with great difficulties. He added that, in his opinion, the most that the Em peror Nicholas would do, in order to spare Germany from the horrors of a war, would be to allow the allies to withdraw freely from the Crimes. Such a preten sion clearly shows that there is nothing to hope for on the part of Russia. It is said that Prussian not far from giving her adhesion to the treaty of the 2nd December. The intrepretation of the four points, which is said to be very moderate, is doubtless known to her, as it has been communicated to Prince Gort chakoff." A letter from Warsaw of the 27th ult., in the Wanderer of Vienna, states that some regiments of the cavalry of the Guard have passed the Vistula to join the corps of observation formed on the Prussian frontier. Regiments of infantry and artillery of the Guard are being sent towards that frontier. THE CZAR ON STABBING THE FALLEN. The Journal de St. Peterabourg of Dec. 29 contains the following attempted vindication of the Rumba army in the Crimea : The English end French press, and even the speeches of public men, have been filled with accusations of cruelty levelled by our adversaries against our brave soldiers in the Crimea. An attempt has been made to diffuse the belief that our troops despatched the wounded as they lay on the ground after the battle. We know that Prince blentchikoff met this odious accusation with the moat prompt and ener getic denial. We shall confine ourselves here to reminding the world that generosity and compassion are qualities so universally assigned to the Russian people,—that writers most hostile to them have never dreamed of calling these in question. Who can believe that the nation which has adopted as a popular saying that beautiful maxim, •' of those excesses ! Let us nevertheless add that if we strenuously repel the accusation sought to be fastened on the whole body of our gallant army, we have no intention whatever of extending this justification to a few Isolated facts that may have unfortunately occurred, and which, bad they come to the knowledge of the military authorities, would have been checked with the vigour which is charac teristic of our discipline. These facts,; if they did :take place, ought for the rest to be attributed to the exaspera tion produced in our troops by the conduct of the allied armies. Let us not forget that the Russian soldier is defending his own soil, his hearth audaciously linvaded by foreigners allied to the enemies of Christianity, _ , by adversaries who respect neither churches, nor convents, nor holy bells, and that these •rimes are in his eyes so many deeds of sacrilege that kindle his vengeance. We must not conceal from ourselves the fact that the sacking of the Church of Chenonesus, that ancient temple, witroored by oar ealdiers fres the beations el Sebastopol, has justly exasperated them. The resistance el a people attacked in objects most sacred, most dear to Its heart, in its religion as well as its homes, often assumes • fierce nature by acquiring proportions that are those of the situation. Beside., why not cite also the conduct of our enemies? Why not say, for instance, that during the battle of the 24th (Nov. 5) the Anglo- Franck sharp shooters, unable to resist the collision cf our bayonets, threw themselves on the ground under the pretence of being wounded, but as soon as our gallant band had passed, stood up again for the purpose of firing bullets at their legs. Acts of this sort, such as we have just instanced, would amply explain the exasperation of the Russian soldier. For the rest, let us, in finishing, remind our readers that if our adversaries are pleased to amen us of cruelty, their own prisonen do us better justice. The chiefs of the allied armies have received irrefragable proofs of this truth. SWEDEN. 01011 A OT THZ DAILY NEWS.) STOCKHOLM, Die. 24. It is to-day officially announced that the cholera bsa entirely disappeared from this city. Last evening, between 5 and 8 o'clock, whist the drat. were crowded with the thickest throng, the saeli,ght, from some hitherto unexplained cause, went suddenly out, leaving the city in perfect darkness, as not only the street lamps but those in the shops and houses were equally affected. The general con fusion that ensued was very great, and the pick pockets derived the greatest benefit from the acci dent. A subscription has been opened at Mons, in Bel gium, in favour of the soldim fighting in the Crimea sada the bp of Preece and /balsa& DENMARK. FURTHER MINISTERIAL ARRANGEMENTB COPENHA.GRN, De e . 3 1. In my lut I announced that Count Scheel-Pleerea had declined the office of Minister for Foreign Affairs, which was offered him on th e formation cd the present cabinet. While confirming th e f act, have today to add that the Privy Councillor rot Treschow m generally supposed to be now desi g . need for that department, although I d o not believe that he will accept office. It is well known that Ii took an active part in the formation of the pree eet ministry, standing high in the confidence of th e IKing, and if he had felt inclined to accept office he might easily have obtained a portfolio, as his Politi cal principles perfectly coincide with those of the liberal party now in power. Till a Minister for Foreign Affairs is definitively appointed the minister for Holstein, Herr von Scheel, will continue to hold the seals of the Foreign-office. Several reforms in the appointments of the court and those offices immediately attached to the pers on of the King are under consideration. Amongst others the Lord Chamberlain von Levetzow, and the King's aide-de-camp, General Scholler, whose Russian tendencies and absolutist political views am well known, are to be removed and replaced by others with more liberal sentiments and more according with the constitutional principles of the present government. _ _ A great sensation has been created here by the an nouncement that the late Minister of b juices., Count Sponnech, is to be appointed Director• General of the Customs, an office created by him when minis. ter, and which he continued to preside over with the view, it is said, of keeping this nice berth open for himself if compelled by circumstances to resign the ministry of finances. The extreme left are very angry with Colonel Andras for offering him the appointment, which is one of very great importance, and almost as influential and independent an office a• a ministerial department. A still more unfavourable impression has been caused by the proposed appointment of Herr von Til lisch,the Ring's late cabinet secretary, to the office of Director of the Royal Domains, also a branch of the financial department. Although Tillisch dots really hold this appointment, it is well known that it was only to be considered a provisional measure, the definitive occupancy being reserved for M. Simony, the temporary Minister of Justice. For, in case the Procurator Fiscal von Scheel should eventually decline accepting as definitive Minister of Justice, the office would be given to M. Hall, the present Minister for Religion and Education, and Simony would retire. Monrad and Madwig are spoken of as having good chances of succeeding M. Hall when these new arrangements are completed. One of the prop os ed improvements in the admini stration of the Duchy of Holstein now under preps. ration by Herr von Scheel, is depriving the owners of the noble estates (adelige gider) of the privilege hitherto exercised by them of administering justice on their own estates, and thus suppressing the old feudal institution of the so-called Patrimonial- Gerichle, and placing the inhabitants on the same footing and subject to the same jurisdiction and laws as the rest of the Danish monarchy. THE INUNDATIONS AND HURRICANE AT HAMBURG. (1 , 11011 THI OF THE DAILY saws.) HAMBURG, JAN. 3. The new year has opened with a dire calamity, threatening our devoted city with almost as much loss as that sustained from the great fire of 1842, from the dreadful effects of which we have had scarcely time to recover. A severe gale from N.W. set in early on New Year's-day, and increased in violence every hour till it reached the forge of a per. fect hurricane. Though it was still two days short of the full moos, the tide rose so rapidly from the immense body of water driven into the Elbe from the sea, and, of course, forced up the river, that the signal guns announcing that the water had risen 12 feet above the usual highwater mark, were fired at the very time when, in the usual state of the weather, the ebb tide ought to have taken place. These signal guns were repeated at the rise of every additional foot, till nearly 5 o'clock p.m., when the greater part of the town was under water, and the communication in the streets cut off, or only kept up at first by adventurous waggons, and afterwards solely by boats. The fall of the tide happened very slowly, as its flow was right in the eye of the wind, mad the unfortunate inhabitants of the inundated ports were actively engaged in securing their rods and chattels, in the full expectation of a return of the inundation in the night, at the rise of the next tide. Many thousands of anxious ears were listening with intense interest, and waiting for the signal guns, whose deep boom ing sound came sweeping over the agitated waters and mixed with the frightful and ineessant howling of the gale, much earlier than was anticipated. The water, which had risen during the daylight tide to 17 feet, now reached the almost unparalleled height of 20 feet 7 inches above the usual highwater mark, and, of course, laid under water many streets which had escaped hitherto, and caused severe damage and loss to the stocks of salt, Roman cement, sugar, fruit, corn, and other susceptible articles with which the warehouses of our merchants are extensively filled. It was not before daylight yesterday morn- Ding that the waters abated and the streets were sgain passable, although all the cellars remained full of water. The printing offices of the Boersen halls and the Hamburg Correspondent were both under water. The former journal was printed at the press of another paper, and up to to-day they have not been able to get rid of the water ; whilst the Correspondent's printing was interrupted, and it was late the next day when they succeeded in completing their impression, just in time for the evening posts, instead of the morning ones as usual. But it was not only the water with which we had to contend ; another element was in combined ac tion, and fiercely fighting for supremacy. The hur ricane was hard at work knocking down chimneys, carrying off roofs, breaking windows, smashing skylights, uprooting trees, and wrecking vessels. In those streets which were not impassable from the inundation, one could only walk in continued risk of one's life. Everywhere the streets were teeming with the wrecks of the tempest, and the air was filled with a heterogeneous mass of slates, tiles, beams, chimneys, bricks, and not only branches bat whole trees. The splendid old oaks on the ramparts which have defied the blasts of centuries, which have witnessed the arrival of the Swedish army under the victorious Gustavus Adolphus, and seen all the hor rors of the thirty years war, are now uprooted and strewn about, in many cases at a great distance from where they stood so many hundreds of years. The dykes built along the banks of the river to prevent inundations have been broken through in many places, aad the country flooded. One of the mostimportant of these inundations is that of the Island of Wilhelmsburg (belonging to the king dom of Hanover), which is formed by the two principal arms of the Elbe, and contains a town, several villages, a great many farm houses, and an area of about 25 square miles. When the dyke gave way the rush of water into the low land must have been terrific. It was duly noted here at Hamburg, for it had the effect of lowering soddenly the level of the water in the streets by four inches! The telegraph wires, which were carried across the Elbe to the Hanoverian side on poles, have been completely swept away. Not a vestige of wires or poles have been discovered. In the harbour several ships, some of large size, were driven from their moorings and capsized ; others were dismssted, and again others thrown with such vehemence against other ships that the weakest were stove in. Yesterday (Jan. 2) the wind moderated, and went round to the north, so that, although to-day is the fall moon—and consequently spring tides—there is no longer any fear of the repetition of a scene such as has not been witnessed for nearly thirty years— the last dreadful storm being the memorable one in February, 1825, when the tide rose 21 feet, or only seven melee higher than that the night before last. DRPARTURE or THE CANADA.—On Saturday femme the British and North American Royal Mail stesemidp Canada, Captain James Stone, sailed from the Maley hirßaston and Halifax, with the usual mails, 94 plasseses, sad • full ono oa board. I