The Press. — London, England, 1855-11-24 00:00:00

1118 THE AUSTRIANS IN THE PRINCIPALITIES. Ax English traveller, writing to the Times from Bucharest, gives the following account of the arrest by the Austrians of Colonel Turr, while employed on British service, and wearing ithe British uniform. The " English Traveller " ,states that the circum stances came under his immediate observation : A Hungarian, named Turr, received a commission some time ago in the Land Transport Corps, British service, and was charged by the director-general of that service in :he Crimea to proceed into Wallachia on special duty— viz., to purchase horses and carriages for the use of the corps to which he was attached. For some mouths he had been employed on this duty, his head quarters being at Rustchuk, on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, where he wrs known to Major Plowden, of the Anglo-Turkish Con tingent, who is stationed there on important service—viz., the transport of cavalry horses purchased in Hungary for the contingent to Baltschik for shipment to the Crimea. About a fortnight ago Colonel Turr visited this town (Bucharest), showei his instructions and credentials to Mr. Colquhoun, her Majesty's agent at Bucharest, and en tered into contracts for the purchase of carriages, &c. He then returned to his post at Rustchuk, in order to carry on his duty of despatching horses to the Crimea, via Silistria. In the performance of this duty he has been constantly in the habit of coming to Giurgevo, on the Wallachian side, opposite Rustchuk. On the evening of the 31st ultimo he again arrived here, in order to receive his carriages, and was unfortunately recognised by two Austrian officers the following morning as he was riding past Count Coronini's residence. These officers, it appears, gave information immediately against him as a deserter from the Austrian army in 1849. and at 2 p.m. Nov. 1 he was arrested in his room at this hotel by order of Count Coronini. For the purpose of patting him off his guard an officer visited him beforehand in his apartment, and began conversing with him en ancien camarade, he suspecting no danger, and relying, no doubt, on the English uniform as ample protection. But, if so, he leaned upon a broken reed; for a strong guard, consisting of three officers and sixteen men, with fixed bayonets, was marched down to the hotel. The main body halted in the gateway, and, the officer making a sign to two men, they immediately entered Colonel Turr's room, and the officer who had previously been conversing with him in the most friendly manner an nounced to him that he was arrested as a deserter! He was ordered to strip off his British cavalry frock ; this he refused ; it was torn from his back, and an Austrian capote thrust on him ; and, in place of his gold-laced cap, they put on his head, in derision, a light-blue cap, such as is worn by the common soldiers in the Hungarian regiments, telling him, " It was fit he should wear the same clothes as those in which he had deserted." He was then motioned into a carriage, and, being surrounded by bayonets, reluctantly obeyed ; the officer in command taking the scat at his side, and a soldier mounting the box, the carriage proceeded at a slow pace under the escort of the guard to the prison, where he is now lying. Of this arrest I was an eye-witness. On the arrest being notified to Mr. Colquhoun, he lost no time in pro ceeding to Count Coronini's residence, and, in a tone be coming his position, demanded the liberation of the pri soner, he being actually in the British service, wearing its uniform, on Turkish territory, and intrusted with a special commission on behalf of the British army in the Crimea. But every cock crows loudly on its own dunghill, and the count, relying on his bayonets, forgot the respect due to the Queen's representative, and lost for a moment his habitual calmness, or, in undiplomatic language, put him self into a towering rage, exclaiming, " I know no Colonel Turr, but one Turr a deserter, whose name was posted upon the public gibbet at Funfkirchen for five weeks. Savez-vous, Monsieur, pie j'ai le pouvoir de le pendre ?" " Sur votre responsabiliti, votre Excellence," replied Mr. Colquhoun. "Un deserteur," shouted the count, ".je l'arrete partout ou je le trouve, et si mon gouvernement m'ordonne a le rendre je casserai mon epée." He then moderated his tone a little, and exhibited some approach towards politeness, refusing, however, to liberate the pri soner, and only consenting to delay further measures until the receipt of instructions from Vienna. Our consul lost no time in renewing his demand formally in writing, but, up to the time at which I write, Count Coronini has vouchsafed no reply. Hotel de Londres, Bucharest, Nov. 3. THE. SLAVE TRADE, accounts from Cuba say, has of late greatly increased between that island and Vie African coast, notwithstanding the efforts of the Governor-General to suppress it. - - SIR ROBERT PEEL has delivered a lecture at the Leamington Athenreum, with the curious title of, " An evening with the poets, with recitals of beautiful and powerful passages ; or a trip through Europe to the seat of war; with a pocket edition of Shakspeare and the poets." The only part of this curious com position worth notice was the lecturer's answer to the question " What are we fighting fur? " God forbid that we should fight to uphold Maho medanism ; we were not contending for that decayed power, but to put a barrier against the aggressions of Russia, and at the same time defending ourselves against the consequences which would result if Russia were allowed to carry out herl designs. They were also fighting t avenge the crimes and hypocrisy of the last fifty years. They wanted to make Russia feel the retribution which those crimes had entailed upon ber. They also fought to avenge the crimes of the Empress Catherine, who mur• dered the Khan of the Crimea, where we are now fighting, and who thought she was going uninterruptedly along the toad to Constantinople. THE PRESS. Court ad las4ion. The Queen 'held a Court and Privy Council on Wednesday afternoon at Windsor Castle The Privy Council was attended by Prince Albert, Earl Gran ville, the Duke of Argyll, Viscount Palmerston, Sir George Grey, Lord Panmure, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. R. Vernon Smith, Viscount Canting, Earl Spencer, Lord Steward, and Lord Ernest Bruce, Vice Chamberlain (officiating for the Lord Chamber. lain). At the Council the Right Hon. Henry Labouchere was sworn in a Secretary of State (Colonial Department), received the seals of office from the Queen, and kissed hands on his appoint ment. Sir Hamilton Seymour, G.C.8., was, by command of the Queen, sworn one of her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and took his place at the board. Wednesday being the fifteenth anniversary of the birth of the Princess Royal, the usual salutes were fired from the Castle guns. In the evening a dra matic performance took place at the Castle before the Queen and a distinguished company. Sheridan's Rivals was selected for the occasion. _ His Royal Highness Prince Albert, attended by Viscount Torrington, Major-General the Hon. Charles Grey, and Captain Du Plat, left Windsor on Thursday morning, by a special train of the Great Western Railway, for Birmingham. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge arrived at Dover yesterday morning from Calais, landed under a royal salute from the heights, and proceeded to London direct. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, accompanied by the Princess Mary, paid a visit to the University of Cambridge on Wednesday last. Their Royal Highnesses are at present the guests of the Right Hon. the Earl of Hardwicke, at Wimpole, where a distinguished party, including the Earl of Cardigan, Lord Stanley, M.P., dm., have been invited to meet their Royal Highnesses. Major-General Sir Colin Campbell arrived on Wednesday on a visit to the Queen. The Right Hon. B. Disraeli, M.P., and Mrs. Disraeli have left Hughenden Manor on a visit to the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury, at Hat field. The Duchess of Grafton and the Earl of Euston have left town for Wakefield-lodge, near Stoney Stratford. Lady Mary Phipps has gone to Windsor. The Duke of Grafton comes to town this day, from Euston-hall. Sir John Jervis, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, has been so seriously indisposed during the week as to prevent his attention to his judicial duties. Preparations are being made at Windsor on an extensive scale for the reception of the King of Sar dinia. PRINCE ALBERT AT BIRMINGHAM. His Royal Highness Prince Albert visited Birming ham on Thursday, for the purpose of lading the first stone of the Midland Institute. A congratulatory address from the Burgesses of Birmingham was first read by the Recorder, and briefly acknowledged by the Prince, after which a procession was formed, and the cortege started in the most unpropitious weather for the site of the Institute. Previous to the cere mony of laying the stone an address was read by Lord Calthorpe, explaining the objects and aim of the Institute, to which the Prince replied, expressing his gratification at hearing that the Great Exhibi tion of 1851 was considered " a stimulus for exciting the desire for scientific and practical knowledge, and teaching the value and dignity of human labour." The usual ceremonies were then performed, and the Prince returned to the Town-hall, where a luncheon had been prepared. Lord Calthorpe occupied the chair, having Prince Albert, the Mayor, Lord Lyttle ton, Sir Harry Smith, dm., on his right; and the High Sheriff, Sir John Pakington, the Bishop of Manchester, dm., on the left. The toasts of the Queen, of Prince Albert, and the Royal Family, having been drunk, Prince Albert rose, and, acknowledging the cordial reception he had met with, proceeded to discuss the relative effect of science and art upon industry and human progress : Look at the transformation which has gone on around us since the laws of gravitation, electricity, magnetism, and the expansive power of heat, have become known to us. (Cheers.) It has altered our whole state of exist ence—one might say, the whole face of the globe 1 We owe this to science, and science alone ; and she has other treasures in store for us if we will but call her to our assistance. (Cheers.) It is sometimes objected by the ignorant that science is uncertain and changeable ; and they point to the many exploded theories which have been superseded by others as a proof that the present knowledge may be also unsound, and, after all, not worth having. Ilut they are not aware that while they think to cast blame upon science, they bestow, in fact, the highest praise upon her. For that is precisely the difference between science and prejudice ; that the latter keeps stubbornly to its posi tion, whether disapproved or not, while the former is an unarrestable movement towards the fountain of truth, caring little for cherished authorities or sentiments, but SATURDAY, progressing—feeling no false sha me at he ga,ut, on the contrary, the highest pl easure shortcomings, when freed from an error, at having advanc e d another ' step towards the attainment of . Divine truth—a pl easure not even intelligible to the pride of ignorance. W e also hear, nt,t nnfrequently, science and practice, scientific knowledge and common sense , contrasted as ant agon i stic. A strange error! For science is eminently practical, and must be so, as she sees and knows what she is doing ; while mere common practice is condemned to wor k i n the dark, applying natural ingenuity to unknown powers to obtain a known result. Far be it from me to undervalue the creative power of genius, or to treat shrewd common sense as worthless without knowledge. But nobody will tell me that the same genius would not take an incom parably higher flight if supplied with all the means which knowledge can impart ; or that common sense does not become, in fact, only truly powerful w hen in possessi on o f the materials upon which judgment is to be exercised. In conclusion, his Royal Highness alluded briefly to the system of education intended to be pursued at the Institution : While of the laws just mentioned some have been recog nised as essentials of education iu different institutions, and some will, in the course of time, more fully assert their right to recognition, the laws regulating matter and form are those which will constitute the chief object of your pursuits, and as the principle of subdivision of labour is the one most congenial to our age, I would advise you to keep to this speciality, and to follow with undivided atten tion chiefly the sciences of mechanics, physics, and ch - mistry, and the fine arts in painting, sculpture, and archi tecture. You will thus have conferred an inestimable boon upon your country, and in a short time have the satisfaction of witnessing the beneficial results upon our national powers of production. Other parts of the coup. try will, I doubt not, emulate your example ; and I live in hopes that all these institutions will some day find a central point of union, and thus complete their national organisation. (Loud cheers). The usual toasts of the army and navy were re sponded to by Sir Harry Smith and Sir Robert Peel respectively, while the toast of " Success to the Institute," proposed by Lord Ashburton in a lengthy speech, was briefly responded to by Captain Tindal, R.N., when the Prince shortly left the hall and returned direct to Windsor. THE EARL OF HARDWICKE ON THE POLICY OF THE WAR. AT a meeting of agriculturists at Ely for local pur poses, the Earl of Hardwicke, who presided, in re turning thanks for the navy, defended our naval commanders from the censures passed upon them, and insisted that they ought net to he blamed with out full knowledge of all the circumstances : No naval officer could be fairly vituperated or noticed by the public for not doing his duty unless the public were made perfectly aware of the orders he received 3f his Government. His (Lord Hardwicke's) opinion was that wherever the public had supposed a fault to be committed the officers of the fleet had acted strictly under the in structions of the Government. They had been told to refrain, or attack, or conduct operations in any way that the Government in England thought fit ; there had been no discretion whatever in the matter. He eulogised the operations in the Black Sea, and then gave reasons why the fortresses in the Baltic could not be attacked with advantage without the co operation of a powerful land force Any attempt, of whatever description, at close action with land batteries, was always an affair which, if it was to be done successfully, must be done by an army accom• panying ; and simply for this reason, that the ship being a moveable body and the fortress a fixed body, whenever the ship went away she was called beaten ; and although she might destroy a town by her fire, yet tl•e ship, having expended her ammunition and exhausted her resources, must retire, leaving the fortress standing where it was. Such success was in his opinion of very small importance, for the fortress could be reconstructed and resupplied ; after all, it would appear as though we had fought very much for fighting's sake without gaining that which would very materially bring about any great or important results in the war. With an army possession might be taken of the place attacked, and then he admitted it became an achievement which might be called finished and complete, and the success was such as warranted an attack. He had a great objection to attacks made upon fortified places by shipping unless it was done with the full inten tion of carrying it out to the seizure and possession of the place ; because he thought anything else materially in jured our prestige, and one of the first things done was to point out to the enemy all his weak places, and, as soon as the fleet retired, he, from his practicable experience, strengthened every point of his position and called upon them to attack him again. At a later period of the evening his lordship ex pressed his opinion on what he termed the great question of the war : Without going into details or entering into any contro• versial subject, he would say, for God's sake let us adhere, and adhere strictly, to the purposes and intents for which that war was undertaken ; and don't let us be drawn aside by anything from keeping that great object in view and adhering to it. Let not those opinions be entertained which led the public to think we had undertaken a war for the overthrow of a nation, or for the setting up a demo• cratic Government in lieu of a despotic one, or for the purpose of liberating oppressed nationalities, or for the purpose of drawing round us alliances that might open new sources of attack and defence whish did not enter into