The Press. — London, England, 1854-04-22 00:00:00

APRIL 22, 1854. RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY. THE Lord Mayor's usual Easter banquet came off on Monday. The rank and number of guests, and the eclat with which " city hospitalities" are wont to be surrounded, presented no falling off from the prece dents set in former years. Among the speeches made after dinner, that of most interest was de livered by Sir G. H. SEYMOUR, late Ambassador at St. Petersburg, who gave some curious particulars touching the mysteries of diplomacy and political disquisition in the Russian capital. On his health being drunk, coupled with a compliment to his talents as a representative of Great Britain in a foreign Court, he said that the compliment be longed rather to the system under which he had been brought up than to himself individually That system was a remarkably simple one. It was, in fact, nothing more than keeping one's eyes open, and speaking of things, not as they might be agreeable to the English Government, but as they appeared to him at the time—in other words, calling things by their right names. This system was extremely simple, but unfortuuately it had not been observed abroad, and to its non-observance he attri buted much of the evils with which we were now threatened. In Russia nothing of the sort prevailed ; hence the misfor tune which had now befallen the world. He was persuaded that nothing could be more incorrect than the intelligence which was conveyed to Russia from all parts of Europe, and therefore that nothing could be more false than the conclusions which were drawn from that intelligence. What did they write from the provinces of Turkey ? Why, that every sort of horror was committed against the Christians—that Greek priests had been burnt, that churches had been destroyed, that women had been shame fully ill treated, that the extermination of the Christian religion had been attempted—stories which made his hair stand on end until lie discovered that there was not one word of truth in them. What did they write from London ? He was sorry to say that John Bull was represented as a very material fellow—that he was excessively intent upon his Three per Cents., and his mines, and his railway stock—that he was rather addicted to creature comforts, to buying and selling in the morning, and to eating and drinking in the evening; and that he was particularly indisposed to interrupt his prosperity by meddling in affairs in which he had no direct concern. Of course, he was not now alluding to the despatches of Prince This or Count That, but was talking of the reports that were generally current in St. Petersburg. He came next to France. And what did they say of France ? They said, " Here is a country which has just emerged from one great political revolution, and is wholly bent upon avoiding another." The principal men of this country are intent upon realising large fortunes ; the Court itself is very im perial in its sympathies ; and, above all, the idea of a close connection between England and France was reckoned a myth—a thing to be talked of, but which could never be realised. The result had been what we now witnessed. The Emperor of Russia had plunged his country into a war; and we were thus alienated for a moment from a power with which we had long held amicable relations, many of whose sympathies were with us, and one-half of whose produce the merchants of England not only pur chased, but paid for beforehand. He would not conceal from them also that there were kind hearts among the Rus sian people, and, when the present mist of prejudice should be dispelled, there was many a friendly hand among them which it would give him real pleasure to be the first to shake. He could tell them that the English Minister to the. Court of St. Petersburg was a very small man. He might do what he could, but his voice was of small account; and this was the culminating point of the case. It was not what was said to the Emperor of Russia in English, but what was said to him in his own language. That was what decided the question ; and he was convinced that, if there had been one man of character who had the courage to declare the truth to his Majesty, he would never have embarked in this unfortunate career. But, if we had lost on the one side, we had gained on the other; and the grave circumstances to which he had alluded had produced an approximation to that which, perhaps, no other circum stance could have brought about. Need he say that he referred to the alliance of England and Fiance? In every language there were certain words of peculiar importance and significancy. When we said of a man that he behaved in a gentlemanly manner, or acted in the character of a gentleman, we bestowed upon him the highest weed of praise that it was in our power to offer, and we meant that such a man would not only fulfil but would even go beyond his engagements. In the French language the words loyal and /opiate had the same meaning, and it mightbe allowed to him, in speaking of the French Government, to say that, as far as his powers of observation extended , these term s were peculiarly applicable to them, and that nothingcould be more loyal, nothing more marked by loyaute, the proceedings of the. French Government. One slight circum stance had occurred which appeared to him not to have at tracted the attention it deserved among the arts—dodges, he believed, was the modern word—resorted to for the purpose of separating the English and French Governments. It would be observed that the Emperor of Russia had meted out very different t re atment to the French Minister from that which was awarded to her Marry s Minister. For instance, he (Sir H. Seym our) received one fine winter's morning an intimation that his back would be more agree able to the Emperor than his face, and that it was very de sirable he should name a day when he would be prepared to return home. Nothing of the sort was done to the French Minister ; but it happened that this little act was foreseen and discountenanced, for the French Minister, upon hear ing of this treatment, wrote to . request that the tunne l kind possible, might be sent to him, and off he went. t w . as therefore, and probable, that the long centuries hostility and jealousy between the }tench and Englis of h oT ermnents would be succeeded by as la an y tenteries THE PRESS. peace. Lately there had resounded through the streets of Paris cries of " lave la Reiue Victoria!" and " Vivent les Anglais !" To these cries he was sure he might respond, and that this country would respond, by shouts of " five la France I" " Vive l'Empereur !" " Vive le Defenseur des Droits de l'Europe !" RUSSIAN OPERATIONS IN THE BLACK SEA. THE official Journal de St. Petersbourg contains an articleemanating evidently from the Russian military authorities, and purporting to contain an authentic narrative of various movements of the fleet under Admiral Nachimoff, of which in the British Parlia ment nothing was told except that, to the best of the " knowledge and belief " of the English commander in the Euxine or Minister in the house, the whole squadron was lying perdu safely shrouded from chance of harm and possibility of use in the inner most harbour of Sebastopol. The Russian account gives a very different view of the case, omitting also any mention of the inclement season, whose perils the Russian seamen appear to have disregarded, although they sufficed to keep the combined fleets stationary in Beicos Bay. The writer describes how, while the English fleet was at Beicoe, the Rus sian admiral put to sea with steamers, transports, and row-boats, and, "with the success which accompanies all the operations of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea," removed the garrisons of all the smaller forts on the Circassian coast, with the families of the sol diers and the stores of the Crown, and so augmented the military resouress of Russia in the south by 5,000 picked troops : " It became necessary (continues the writer) to consi der that in consequence of their position the smaller posts on the Circassian coast had no land communica tion with each other, and that their garrisons, there fore, left completely isolated from the main ody of our forces, could not be of any service in the general sys tern of our future operations. On these grounds the aide-de-camp, General Prince Menchikoff, was ordered to suppress these posts, after having withdrawn the garrisons. Prince Menchikoff has accomplished this service with the success which accompanies all the operations of the fleet in the Black Sea. On the 3rd of March he despatched from Ghelendjik the steamer Molodets, under the flag of Vise-Admiral Serehriakoff, towing row-boats; the Crimea, under the flag of Rear-Admiral Panfiloff, towing the llama( transport-ship ; the Odessa, towing the Bob ; the Cherso• nese, towing the Gosiogai; the Bolds, towing the Kodas ; the Mugoutehy, towing the Tames; and the Argonaut', towing row-boats. In coasting along the shores of Cir cassia, and whenever they arrived opposite a post, they left the vessels necessary for the embarkation of the garri sons; but on approaching Navaghinsk two steamers, the one French the other English, were signalled. The em barkation was suspended, and measures were taken to pre pare for action ; however, the enemy's ships remained in the offing, passed before ours, and the embarkation was resumed. In the meantime, opposite the post Teliaminoff, these two steamers stopped the hired transport hyb; two officers bailed her, and addressed to her commander, Lieut. Tchebyscheff, the following questions: — "'What steamers have you seen near the post of Nava ghiniak ? ' Answer--' Some Russian steamers of war.' "`What are they doing at that point?' Answer — `There is an admiral there, and he has not told me his in structions.' " ' Who is burning the posts, you or the Circassians?' Answer—' We.' - "'Why do you burn them ?' Auswer--' Because such is the order given.' "' Where is your fleet?' Answer—' I don't know, but 1 believe it to be at sea, and very near.' " After having received these answers, the two steamers departed, having described themselves as the AI ogatior and the Samson. On the tith the whole expedition anchored at Novorosslisk, where it disembarked the garrison of the posts of Navaghinak. Golovine, Lazareff, Veliaminoff, Tenghinsk, and Novotroitek. Storms had previously pre vented the squadron of Rear-Admiral Voukotitah embark ing the garrison of the post of St. Esprit. The removal of this garrison took place between the 9th and 10th by means of the steamer Gromonosses, aboard which was sent Colonel Skolkoff. aide•de-camp of the Emperor. From all these posts, besides the garrisons, which make up an effec tive force of 5,000 men, they embarked all the families of the soldiers, the workmen, and a great part of the stores of the Crown. The rest, sa well as the building, were burnt, and the fortifications were blown up. Our military resources have thus been augmented by an important Cody of picked troops, accustomed to war by long service in the oentre of an unsubdned country." A DErrrArnow or ARABS of Algiers, headed by the principal Imaum of the Great Mosque, art about to visit Paris, to offer to the Emperor a magnificent flag, which has been prepared for the native riflemen of the colony. On one side of the flag is an imperial eagle with a crown, the letter " N " in a crown of oak, and the arms of Algiers, consisting of a lion and a palm-tree. On the other side is a poetical inscription in Arabic, of which this is the trans lation : " This standard will shine in the fields of glory, and will fly to *access with divine assistance. It has been executed by the Must:Wynn. of Algiers, and is offered to the native soldiers who form part of the French troops that are sent to the assistance of the Ottoman empire. The year 1270 (1854)." The style in which the flag is exe cuted and embroidered does the highest credit to the native artists. 865 THE COMMISSARIAT IN TURKEY. COWSTDZRABLE difficulties arc found to exist in supplying Erovisions in sufficient quantities to the tr)ops in the ast. Fresh meat, above all, it is feared will be difficult to procure. Except in Moldavia. Wallachia, and Bulgaria, Turkey in Europe furnishes but few large cattle, sheep being the staple. The Board of Health of the French Army, being consulted as to the possibility of feeding the soldiers principally on mutton, have declared against that diet for a constancy, as likely to load to dysentery. In consequence large cattle must be purchased at whatever price they can be procured. The contractors for the army of Africa, at Marseilles and in the other southern ports, rather hang back from making any tender, being particu larly terrified at the thought of the price of transport. The present idea is to purchase oxen in Italy, and then have them either slaughtered here and slightly salted, or carried out alive. It is supposed that 200 will be required each day. The correspondent writing from Widdiu to the Daily Newt gives the following tariff of provisions at that place:— " Everything here is sold by weight. My servant bought excellent red wine at a penny tor 211bs. This is not far from but less than a penny a quart ; and the wine is not only palatable, but excellent. For M. the oka (which is 2} Viennese, and nearly 2ilbs. English) you get what the Bulgarians call a ' fine, strong, two years old. white wine of superior quality.' All the Europeans here drink the other common wine daily, as the dearer sort is a great luxury, and no one complains of its quality. The penny a quart wine is not so good as the Monte rukiano which I drank in Rome in 1830, and falls below Lachryma Chriati • but it is infinitely better than any table wine which 1 saw in any hotel in Italy, even once during five months in 11452. Bread enough for two labourers' dinners, or 2flha., is now purchased for a penny. Capita) beef costs lid. for 2flba. or about a penny also. Eggs are still very dear, being a farthing each. " I saw a priest to-da3 paying a high price for a large fat duck, which he bought alive as usual, of a peasant woman, under my window, for lid. A fine fat chicken, now difficult to procure, and therefore dear, costs from lid. to 4d. You must try to believe what follows : the people are complaining of the enormous rise in the price of provi sions, and the papers abroad—for, of course, there is not one in Bulgaria—are filled with accounts of the famine prices at Widdin. And so it is. For 2flbs., or over a quart of good wine, was sold eighteen months ago for leas than id. As to beef, and the best (for it is as good as you find out of England, in any part of Europe), it was sold in great pieces without stopping to weigh it. You might buy hrefa-dozen pounds for 2d. ; in fact, it could not be said to have a price. A goose, if well fatted, would have commanded tid. Our Serbian coachee would not suffer me to be cheated by giving a shilling for as fine and fat a young turkey (though small, IS or 7 lbs.) as I ever saw in England. A roasting pig of 15 to 16 lb.. was bought for 2e. ltd. after prices had doubled. The fact that the potatoes failed last year, not by the disease, but on account of the wet and late planting, would account for the rise in prices, to aay nothing of the whole armies to be fed. Within fourteen days, beans, which were 3d. for 2f lbs., have risen a penny. Coals or charcoal, so much used by the Turkish soldiers in their mongols, and in rooms without chimneys, have become very scarce. Within ten days they have risen from Id. to lid. the oka. All else in proportion, and the fact that the eggs could moo be bought here 30 for one penny would justify me in heading this letter with famine prices or enormous rise in Widdin. The truth is that an Englishman goes abroad with his English measure for prices, and astonishes man kind by the manner in which he throws away his money for nothing, except to rain all the travellers that come after him. It should be added that the land still seems to teem with abundance." - UNAUTHORISED NEGOTIATIONS. Trtz following is a copy of Lord Campbell's bill intituled " An Act to prevent any unauthorised Nego tiation or Intercourse touching Public Affairs between the subjects of her Majesty and any foreign Potentate, or State " : " Whereas by the law of nations intercourse between in dependent nations respecting the political acts of the Governments of such nations ought to be carried CPU only through the Government■ of such nations, or through the agency of ambassadors or ministers duly appoint/diet that purpose: and whereas it is expedient that the observance of the said law should be enforced by the municipal law of this realm ; be it enacted by the queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Par liniment aseenibled, and by the authority of the same, as• follows: " 1. If any subject or subjects of her Majesty shall after the passing of this act, without the authority oilier Majesty, or leave for that purpose gran►ed in writing to hint or them by one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, present to any foreign potentate, or the Government of any foreign state, any address from or professing to come from any portion of her Majesty's subjects touching any set of her Majesty's Government or of the Government of such potentate or state, or touching any negotiation no public affairs pending between her Majesty's (iovetmnient and the Government of inch potentate or state, or the policy to be pursued on public affairs between her Majesty's Government and the Government of such potentate or state, or shall, representing or professing to represent any portion of her Majesty's subjects, by any other means enter into any negotiation, correspondence, or internourse with any inch potentate or state touching any of the matters aforesaid, the persons so offending shall be and they are hereby declared to be guilty of a misdemeanour. "2. All offences against this act may be inquired tried, determined, and dealt with, as if the seise bed been respectively committed within the body of the minty of Middleeem"