The Press. — London, England, 1855-05-26 00:00:00

The second was intimately connected with the general interests of commerce. The Emperor decided it in favour of tho commercial freedom of all nations. The third concerned not only the common equilibrium, but closely interested the dignity and honour of ltussia. So our august master judged. The national feeling of the whole country will respond to this decision. The fourth was a question of religious liberty, of civili sation, and social order for all Christen lom. In the judg ment of the Imperial Cabinet, it was one which would one day be placed at the head of a treaty of general pacification that might be worthy of being invested with the sanction of all the Sovereigns of Europe. The plenipo tentiaries of England and France even refused to entertain this question of religious interests before the one that con cerned the navigation of the Black Sea should be arranged. After this explanation we hays nothing to add to the recital which I have just made. THE BALTIC FLEET. (From a Correspondent.) OFF REVEL. MAY 19.—1 closed my last on our way to Gulf of Finland, with a strong, fair wind, which made us reduce our sail to close-reefed topsails, under which sail, with some occasional alterations, in accordance with wind and weather, we made out our voyage in forty hours to this anchorage, which we found free from ice. The island of Nargen, under whose lee the blockading fleet are now anchored, forms a sort of bay, some seven or eight miles from Revel, whose magnificent "Domberg," powerfully protected by some 1,100 guns, frowns contemptuously down on our wooden walls, which could make but little impres sion on the rocky embrasures which surround it. We have taken possession of this island, and lighted the lighthouse, which will be of great advantage to our cruisers, whose principal station is between here and Revel (about twenty miles from point to point). Some of the flying squadron have dropped in to-day, and, I regret to say, report that there has been a collision between the Imperieuse and Tartar, both vessels having been much damaged, the latter so much so that it was necessary to send her under escort to Faro. She lost her mainmast, and the Imperieuse her bowsprit. The particulars are not exactly known, but it is very vexatious. The Rus sian fleet in Helsingfors have decamped, we suppose, to Cronstadt, so that now our natural (nautically speaking) enemies are all sheltered there. Query— Can we get at them? The admiral, with a large staff, has been reconnoitring within a couple of miles of Revel to-day. Euryalus, Cossack, and Esk have arrived here, after a month's harassing cruise.—No prize money. There are two or three dismantled Russian vessels-of-war of the smaller class inside the mole here not worth troubling ourselves about. There are some curious (and to sailors interesting) relics at this little island of Nargen, in the shape of tombs of officers and men belonging to Nelson's fleet, who came as far as Revel during the war with Rus sia ; and no doubt, had peace not been declared immediately after their arrival, in those days, when fighting was rather a matter of amusement than of serious reflection, would have tried their strength in competition with the fortification of Revel. MAY 11.—The admiral has gone to day to have a look at Helsingfors. MAY 13.—The reconnoitring party from Helsing fors returned late last evening, and report that that place, already renowned for its strength, has had great additions made to its fortifications during the absence of the allied fleets, and now is decided, by the most sanguine, to be perfectly impregnable. Geyser has arrived from cruising in the Gulf of Riga, where she has, in company with the Archer, captured nine neutral vessels who were loading in the roads there. The question of their being good prizes is difficult to decide on ; and one must hear both sides before forming an opinion. Ithperieuse is to go to England, as also probably will Tartar, as their damages are so serious that they cannot be made good here. Princess Alice is all right, and will Join us here shortly. MAY 14.—Driver has arrived, with the mails from England, to-day, and starts to-morrow for Dantzic, with the return letters. News from dear England is to us like water in the desert, and tends much to alleviate the monotony of a Baltic cruise. impfriettee sails to-morrow for home. Poor Imperieuse! I hope she will be back in time for anything that may be going on this year, as she has always had hard times in the Baltic, being, both this and last year, the first to arrive at the scene of operations and the last to quit. Geyser has gone back to her cruising-ground off Riga. Fogs are very prevalent. Fleet are pretty healthy ; but this climate always has a bad effect on our men, in one way or the other, on our first coming here. Nothing is so bad for an English sailor as monotony. Let us have a shot at the Russians, and you will have no report of sickness. We are anxiously expecting ,arrivals from England. All *omen and THE PRESS. children are sent out of Revel, and everybody that cannot provide his home with ten days' provisions is obliged to quit. I don't think they have much cause for alarm, as nothing could be gained by blazing at their fortifications, which are manned by 40,000 picked troops. Magieienne and Dragon have ar rived. A small excitement is felt to-day by our having received a rumour that a Russian camp is being formed near Revel,. on the shore, and a couple of steamers (Magicienne and Merlin) are sent off to shell it. A merchant steamer has arrived with bul locks to-day, which are being distributed about in the fleet. The mail is just closing, so adieu. EARTHQUAKE AT BROUSSA. BROUSSA was visited by another shock on the morn ing of the 28th. The oscillations were in the same direction, and lasted about twenty seconds. No new building suffered, but the half-ruined edifices were still further destroyed, and a cloud of dust from the crumbling walls rose up from the shaken city. The whole population are living in tents and huts ; the poor are in great misery, and the French Consulate, where bread is distributed, is besieged by hundreds of the destitute. Ahd-el-Kader is living in a mise rable hut, without any division but a curtain between the harem and .selamlik. lie has, however, his library, but expresses his intention of applying to the Emperor of the French for liberty to change his re sidence from this fated spot. A letter from Broussa of the 3rd inst. states : Thank God, the shocks of earthquake felt here daily for the last twenty days, have now completely ceased. The people, however, have not yet ventured into the city. A large slice from Mount Olympus has separated and fallen, crushing a village, from which the inhabitants had fled some days before. A great number of thermal springs have made their appearance, and run into a stream near Demirdesh. The distress of the inhabitants is unheard of. Thousands have emigrated to Gemlek and Mudaniah. THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. THE following additional particulars of this pheno menon are communicated by a correspondent of the Morning Post, who writes from Naples on the 14th instant: Since I last wrote, Vesuvius, instead of ceasing its de structive eruption, has been committing, daily, greater ravages. All the artillery of the Roman Catholic Church has been brought out to oppose that of nature—or the great God of nature, rather. Processions, masses, votive offerings, and the exhibition of bones of the saints, attended by his Majesty, and the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius ; and to-morrow, I might add, in all probability, the solemn exposition of the image of the saint himself has been tried, yet the mountain still vomits fire—the burning lava still rolls down on the devoted country and villages beneath. Within the last few days a portion of the lava has diverged from the main stream, which, flowing down on Cerolo and running to the right, has nearly reached St. Jovio. How much fine cultivated land has been covered over, and what promised abundance destroyed, I dare not say ; people ere much too excited at present to make any precise calculations, but the loss to some individuals is very considerable, whilst the total amount must be immense. There are then, you will understand, two large streams at present flowing down—the one more northerly, in the direction of Cerolo, and the other more to the west, in the direction of St. Jovio and Portici. For a day the former stream had nearly ceased to flow, but a heavy accumulation of material came down, and since then it has been ap proaching nearer and nearer to the site where the bridge has been knocked down, as also some houses on the bank. The obvious object of the removal of these buildings was to widen and deepen the bed of the stream, and to remove any obstacle which might lead to the lateral diffusion of the immense masses of scorime. Notwithstanding, however, all precautions, the lava has in many places risen above the banks, though thirty or forty feet high, and committed great havoc. It came as far as the wall of the Campo Santo, and then stopped, which is regarded as a miracle. It advanced to the walls of a large palazzo, belonging to the family of Cavalcann, which is no miracle, but nothing but a combinazioni, to use a Neapolitan word you will tho roughly appreciate ; curious distinction without difference, by which one may prove anything or nothing ! A good walk will lead us across masserias and by-roads to the other prong of the fork of lava which is flowing down on St. Jovio. Alas ! for the pretty village of St. Jovio should it reach it It is one of the chosen spots for the villeggiatura of Neapolitans. Pretty villas meet the eye in all direc tions, and their proprietors are now trembling around them, fearful to remain, and watching anxiously the pro gress which the destructive stream is making. They count their ruin by the foot and minute. Much of the land be- longing to St. Jovio has been already destroyed. Should the eruption continue, the course of the lava will lead it over the railway into the sea. It is to he hoped, however, that it will not reach so far. The summit of the mountain is so riddled, and the surface is presumed to be so thin, that it is feared it may fall at any time: and no person is allowed to advance beyond the Observatory ; indeed, it would be madness to attempt it. The spectacle which the mountain presents at night is remarkably grand. Its sides are covered with the fiery fluid, which one may ima gine to be blood, oozing out from the wounded giant. THE RAILWAY FROM GENOA TO LAKE MAGGIORE will be completed towards the end of June, by the opening of the section from 011eo to Arona . Genoa will then commu nicate directly with ggi Switzerland and Germany. SATURDAY, tortign gorrtsponbnct. FRLNKFORT, May 23, " Now, Barabbas was a robber." Such may be Russia, but superlatively so are Prussia and Austria. The act of Russia is open, and speaks for itself. Let us be just. The Emperor Nicholas judged Turkey to be impossible of self-preservation, and, assuming the result, sought to discuss with England the proper disposition of the property belonging to the moribund. Turkey was not to be forcibly pos sessed: the course proposed contemplated the permission of a peaceful end—an " kronlement," in anition, extinction, " pax vobiscum "—then a partition of the real and personal estate. All this was founded upon the conjectural hypothesis of Ottoman dissolution; and there was no concealment. Eng land did not participate in the views of the Czar on the state of Turkey : the negotiation fell to the ground, and the exact terms of partition never were revealed even to Lord Aberdeen. It was the desire and the interest of Nicholas, in default of Grecian succession, to reconstruct the Byzantine empire, and to place his second son Constantine on the throne, with the proviso, similar to that of France and Spain in the treaty of Utrecht, that the two imperial crowns of Russia and Constantinople should not be held by the same monarch. From whence this in formation is derived is not material : it suffices that the fact will not be contradicted. Shortly after the refusal of England came the question of the Churches, mooted by France. Russia demanded to move " pari-passu "; the Greek and Latin Churches heartily abused one another, according to ecclesiastical rule; Prince Menschikoff was sent on his Constantinopoli tan mission ; the Western powers drifted to war; and war was finally declared. The initiative was actually taken by Russia on crossing the Pruth. Austria and Prussia were on bad terms with them selves and with each other. Neither had faith in their own subjects. Each distrusted the other from intimacy of character—each had been false—each bad been covetous—each bad been perfidious— each had been cruel—each bad been rapacious —each wanted more to the detriment of the other—each was disbelieved—each was defeated—and to each was denied an inherent and integral nationality. Pole, Gelman, Saxon, Walloon, Rhinelander, and West phalian hate the Prussian proper; and, Hungarian, Bohemian, Transylvanian, Mornoum, Dalmatian, Illyrian, Gallician, Croat, Sclavonian, and Italian, do nut affectionate the Austrian. Prussia had sold her self, without reserve, to Russia; whereas Austria retained some faint show of independence. Neither believed England to be sincere in her hostile atti tude, and both relied on Lord Aberdeen. So did Russia. Germany looked to England for assistance in the preservation of confederated power; Prussia deemed her link with England firmly riveted by Protestantism ; and Austria thought herself safe whilst the Coburg policy was quietly gaining the ascendant in the Cabinet of St. James. These general hopes, reliances, and expectations were centred in Lord Aberdeen. His antecedents were held to be a security ; and this supposed security vouchsafed to Austria and Prussia the means of misrule. And here the German question disentangles it from that of Russia. It cannot be too expressively set forth that the general belief in the insecurity of the alliance be twixt England and Imperial France was founded on the defeat of Lord Derby's Ministry and the public censure of the Emperor Napoleon by the colleagues of Lord Aberdeen. Upon Aberdeen belief Germany took its stand. The first intimation of error was the indignant refusal of England to consent to the Aber deen proposal that the country should be garrisoned with German soldiers. This was a severe blow to Coburg policy, and Lord Aberdeen sullened with ill humour thereat. It was the coming event that cast its shadow before. The next untoward hint was the assurance of the Emperor Napoleon that he would not permit open hostility betwixt the confederated States of Germany without the active interference of France. Then came the Aberdeen defeat, the refusal of France and England to vouchsafe to Prussia a seat at the Vienna Conference, and the significant reception of the Emperor Napoleon by the Queen of England and the people her subjects. The Diet of Frankfort, therefore, tardily disabuked of the Aber. deen fallacies, is on the eve of repudiating the domi nance either of Austria or Prussia, and, having loin the support of England, is disposed to accept sub stantially the protectorate of Russia. M. de Glinks, from Hesse Darmstadt, has made a formal comma nication to the Diet, whilst a more intimate and pet sonal message to the Germanic princes has bean privily conveyed by the Prince Peter of Oldenburg ; and this message was not delivered to Austria or Prussia. Confederated Germany accepts the terms ' of amity offered by Russia, and agrees to the pro-