The Press. — London, England, 1854-09-16 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 16, 1854. high esteem of our neighbours, and the respect and affection of the sailors of his squadron, by the eleva tion of his character, the firmness of his mind, and the calm courage which is the first military quality of a sailor. The crews, partly formed of young sailors, who had seen no service, rapidly profited by the instructions and experience of the staff. From the beginning they tried to rival the English sailors. The task of the two fleets was not an easy one. They had to navigate in a narrow sea, full of dangers, which had been generally kept close by Muscovite ambition, and which consequently was very little known. How many accidents we should have to en register with less excellent vessels, a chief less able, and crews less instructed or less docile But we have not been pained by any wreck : some vessels which ran aground were immediately got off. None of our vessels have suffered serious injury. The accidents which occurred were easily repaired, and served to cement the union of the two fleets—which hastened, when necessary, to each other's assistance. During the siege of Bomarsund a French boat em ployed in getting afloat the English frigate the Penelope bad one of its men carried away by a cannon ball. On the whole our vessels were taken along coasts studded with concealed rocks, and through labyrinths of dangers, with sangfroid, skill, and suc cess which cannot be too much admired. By the fireside a great many persons express surprise at the delay of the fleets in attacking Cronstadt and Svea borg. It is true they have not accomplished that exploit, and excellent reasons for not dcing it will occur to any one who will take the trouble to reflect on the force of citadels, patiently raised during many years with the view of resisting an attack by sea. Vessels are very powerful machines of war ; but to act alone against land works they require certain conditions —a sufficient depth of water, and a sufficient space in which to act together. Before opposing our wooden walls to the granite works of Sveaborg and Cronstadt, it was necessary to approach these fortresses, to recon noitre them, and to appreciate what instruments of war, what sort of naval or land forces, were required to reduce them. This reconnaissance has been made because the allied fleets have driven the Russian fleets before them—which fleets, though even in number and in guns, have disgracefully retired behind the fortifications, whilst our flags appeared before them, and defied them even in their refuge. At present the reconnaissances have been made, the plans drawn up, and, if the Czar persists in his foolish resistance, the next campaign, without any doubt, will be marked by the fall of these proud citadels. The destruction of the fortifications at Bomarsund is now complete, and the works, which are said to have cost nearly six millions and upwards of twenty five years in construction, have been reduced to shapeless masses of smouldering bricks and stone in almost as many hours. The work of destruction commenced on Wednesday, the 30th, when Fort Pristo (which had scarcely been injured, except a very little in the roof) was blown up about midday. A rumbling sensation was first felt, immediately fol lowed by two tremendous explosions, and the fort was seen to riseinto the air in an indescribable mass, with a dense column of black dust and smoke, from out of which beams of timber and blocks of stone shot in all directions : a strong wind carried away the cloud to the east, perhaps to deposit some of its particles even as far as St. Petersburg. The immense stores of Bomarsund have been thrown open to the country people, who flock from all quarters with every excuse for a cart that can be got to carry away the meal, barley, and oats. This is a very season able gift to the poor wretches, many of whom but for it must have starved during the winter. A portion of the centre of the tower had been purposely left for Admiral Clutch; to try the effect of broadsides of the Edinburgh. On Monday, the 4th, be laid his ship within 500 yards and fired seven broadsides, which made a complete breach in the wall, knocking several embrasures into one, and proving pretty clearly that if the other forts of the Emperor are built like this they are no match against our " wooden walls." The admiral then tried broadsides at 1,000 yards, but neither the firing nor its effect was satisfactory. A Russian vessel arrived at Bomarsund on the Ist of September. She made her way through some intricate passages without passing through Ledsund ; when she arrived she bad a flag of truce flying from a pole forward, for she has no masts. She was immediately boarded by both French and English guard-boats, and her captain taken before Sir Charles Napier, who was on board the Edinburgh. He stated that he had been sent from Helsingfors to a place near Abo with a flag of truce, where he was to meet the officers' and sol diers' wives taken at Bomarsund ; but not finding them there he thought he would come on here. Sir Charles told him that, by doing so, he had laid him self open to capture, for he had no business to come beyond his first destination, and that he should be detained until it was convenient to send an escort with him back. A strict guard was kept over him and no communication allowed. THE PRESS. DIFFICULTIES OF RUSSIA. The Hamburg Correspondent, speaking of the dif ficulties created by the war in Russia, states:— •` The Government, in order to fill up the blanks which are every day more and more felt in the list of officers in the army, has just issued a ukase granting to the sons of Greco-Russian, Armenian, and Lutheran priests great faci lities for advancing to the rank of officers if they enrol themselves as volunteers. All articles from abroad have considerably advanced in price, owing to the dearness of land carriage. More than ffilpoo horses are constantly occupied in the transport of merchandise from the fron tiers to St. Petersburg and the neighbouring towns. The Government itself is obliged to pay very dear for the Con veyance of things of which it stands in need; and this charge begins to get very onerous. In the interior of the empire misery everywhere prevails. The production 9f raw materials has almost entirely ceased, particularly in Finland, which causes great distress to the poorer classes. At St. Petersburg they are beginning to make collections, give concerts, ctc., in favour of persons who have been ruined by the war." THE WHITE SEA. The St. Petersburg journals contain the following intelligence from the White Sea :—Tbe village of Pushlatu, to Oneiga district, consisting of forty farm houses and a church, has been burned down by the enemy. Six English were killed. The Russians did not lose a man. Three ships, laden with flour, were burned opposite the village of Susma ; another laden with fish, worth 980 silver roubles ; and another taken worth 150 silver roubles. The vessel was sunk, which causes a loss to the owner of 1,41 X) silver roubles. On the Rusk coast a vessel, laden with 800 puds (28,8001bs.), was detained; and another, worth 900 roubles, burned. Finally, an other was burned with a cargo of wheat worth 3,000 silver roubles. THE RUSSIAN REPLY. The following analysis of the reply of the Czar to the Austrian and Prussian note is given by the In& pendance Beige. The despatch of Count Nesselrode refers, in the fist place, to the negotiations which have taken place since the Austrp-Prussian somma- Gotta : "Russia," it says, "has assented to the greatest part of the concessions demanded, solely out of regard to the in terests of Austria and Prussia. In acceding to the evacua tion of the principalities she has abandoned her military position in Turkey in Europe, which permits her enemies to employ their forces against her in Asia, and upon the territory of Russia. She has not put forward any reci procal claim ; she has been content with expressing the views she entertained when Austria indicated the guaran tees which she was able to offer, on her side, to Russia. She is convinced that it was not possible for Austria to give to her the assurance of an armistice, but she did de sire to know beforehand if, after the evacuation of the prin cipalities, Austria would or would not separate herself from the coalition which has been formed for the purpose of humiliating Russia. Further, Russia has declared bey - self willing to negotiate upon the basis of the protocol of Vienne of the 9th of April. " Austria has not made any direct reply to Russia in re lation to these propositions ; but she immediately ad dressed herself to the Western powers, upon whom she made her decision to defend, although it could not be ex pected that they would be ready to enter upon the path Of conciliation, seeing that they have allied themselves together in order to enfeeble Russia by a prolonged war. This has been confirmed by communications made by the Austrian Ambassador to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg— that is to say, by the Austrian note of the 10th of August. " The conditions required by the Western powers are unacceptable in respect to their substance ( reefer), as well as in form, principally because that, according to the avowal of the French Government itself, what they exact, with the ostensible purpose of maintaining the European equilibrium, is nothing less than the destruction of the establishments of the Russian marine, and the power of Russia in the Black Sea. " Austria, in recommending these conditions, has added that the Western powers have still reserved the right to make others, which renders it perfectly useless to submit them to a detailed examination. Besides, even if they should not be changed, their acceptation would lead it to he supposed that Russia is reduced by war to the last degree of exhaustion. Although the Emperor has adhered to the principles enunaiated in the protocol of Vienna, he cannot enlarge the meaning of it as much as others have done, because the immense sacrifices which Russia has made in the interests of Austria and Prussia would remain without any compensation. In the place of finding in those concessions a motive for redeeming those obliga tions, Austria has drawn closer its alliance with the enemies of Russia. " Consequently, the Emperor infinitely regrets that he has not been able to accept the last overtures made by Austria. He considers that he has made every concession compatible with the honour of Russia, and, as he has not withdrawn any of these advantages, it only remains for him to do the same as his enemies—that is, to try the eventuali ties of war in order to arrive at some solid basis of nego tiations for peace. " The Emperor has directed his General-in-Chief to repass the Pruth with his troops from strategic motives, and Russia will keep herself upon the defensive within her frontiers, until more equitable conditions are offered to her. The Emperor, on his side, will avoid increasing the complications of the war, but he will repel with the greatest energy all attacks against him, from whatever quarter they may proceed." 869 Inteign alo QT,olonial Intelligente. FRANCE. The Moniteur publishes the following, in the form of a letter from Constantinople " The expedition to the Crimea is at length decided on, and Sebastopol will be attacked. This great decision has been announced to the combined armies, to the East, and to all Europe by an order of the day of Marshal St. Arnaud, in which the noble ardour of the heroic struggle which is about to be entered on, and the patriotic affirmations of a speedy victory, are expressed with eloquent energy. Russia is to be struck in the very heart of all the ambitions hopes which she nourishes on the East, and which have for a long time threatened the equilibrium of the world. Sebastopol is the citadel which shelters • fleet always ready to threaten the liosphorus, a fioatingbridge which, in the idea of the Czar, has long united St. Petersburg to Cup stantinople. It is necessary that this fleet should he taken from Russia in order that that power shall no longer have anything but impossibilities in the East, and that the chances even of treason shall be definitively taken front her. It Is after long and mature deliberation that, of all the attacks possible against the Russian possessions in the Black Sea, the most formidable has been chosen for the abet The fate of arms, it is true, is always uncertain ; but, although the season is advanced, and the necessity of preventing tho arrival of important reinforcements which the Russian Government is sending to the Crimea renders it neces sary to give to the attack on Sebastopol the proportions of a formidable eorip-de-teein, the hope of terminating the war in the East by a single effort, or at least of reducing it to narrow limits, is worth the risk of such an enterprise. It was necessary to postpone to next year the campaign of the Crimea, or to hasten it; the latter plan best suited the policy which was desirous that the struggle between Russia and the Western powers should have a demovement free from all ambiguity for the future ; it also better suited the ardour of the chiefs of the combined armies and the impatience of the soldiers, who were fatigued with a war without combats, and after undergoing sickness found themselves in presence of the empty encampments of an enemy too prudent to wait their approach. It must not be concealed that the enterprise of the Crimea is one of the boldest of which history makes mention, since the attack is made with equal and perhaps inferior numbers on an enemy entrenched behind an enclosure of walls and fort resses. lint it is in attempting such great exploits that armies maintain and increase their renown, and, moreover, may there not be a military miracle expected from this Elite of three armies, who will rival each other iu ardour and bravery—from this ccanbined fleet where the spirit of old struggles will revive under the form of a rivalry of boldness and heroism? The greater part of the Anglo- French troops, and 10,000 picked Turkish troops, will be conveyed in two trips of the fleets to the shores of the Crimea, at a short distance from Sebastopol. As soon as the troops shall have been landed, they will be led on to battle either against the Russian troop. if they should endeavour to defend the positions' which surround Sehrs topol, or against the place itself, if the Russians conk rat themselves with waiting the their formidable visitors under shelter of the walls. If Sebastopol be taken, the combined armies will have accompliahed a striking feat of arms, which will complete the demoralisation of Russia, and materially facilitate the re-establishment of peace. If, on the contrary, the number of Russians present in the Crimes should be more considerable than was supposed—if the town should prolong its defence, and if obstacles should arise in a few weeks from the season—if, in short, a strong Rtissian army should succeed in reinforcing the Crimea, the troops would have to re-embark, and the attack on Sebastopol would be resumed at the commencement of next spring under differ ent conditions. To attack the Crimea is, on the part of France and England, to take an engagement to conquer, and no one can doubt but that the engagement will be kept. To conquer the Crimea at any cost, or to abandon to the Russian. the empire of the East—such is the alter native in which Russia has placed the Western powers. Whatever may be the obstacles to be overcome, the defini. tire result cannot be doubtful." There is no Paris news whatever. The Emperor continues at Boulogne, and employed the early part of the week in inspecting the camps. The following telegraphic despatch was received on Tuesday : " Nyborg, Sept. 10.—Last evening the French ship of the-line St. /Ands and the frigate Androttreque, having on board French troop., touched here on their way to France. To-day the skips Datatverth and Tilsit, the Ckopittre and Syrienee, and two steamers, hove in sight, also returning to France." The Moniteur states that by an imperial decree, dated the Bth instant, M. Cuoheval-Clarigny is ap pointed a member of the commission for the publica• tion of the works of the first Napoleon. General Hartmann has arrived in Paris, charged with the duty of complimenting the Emperor, in the name of the King of Bavaria, on the occasion of the military filer at Boulogne, whither he proceeds. The general, who is an aide-de-comp of the King, is ac companied by three Bavarian officers. Marshal Baraguay d'Hilhers arrived in Paris and has left for Boulogne. GERMANY. Considerable importance is attached to a circular addressed by the Prussian Government to ita envoys at the German Courts. It states that the latter will shortly he called to come to a resolution respecting the attitude of the Confederation towards Russia. The Prussian Government declares that although for the sake of peace it supported at St. Petersburg MiMfm