The Press. — London, England, 1856-02-16 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 16, 1856. ti-rranean hand just pushing the masses a short distance out of their places, turning them upside down, and rolling them over each other in a cloud of smoke and dust. There were probably two reasons for the care with which the engineers measured th.:ii charges. One may be that by leaving the docks encumbered and filled up with their own ruins they bequeath a harder task to any future rebuilder than if they scattered the stone linings tar and wide, and left the chasms comparatively clear. The second reason may be that by more violent explosions they would probably have shaken down buildings, overthrown the dockyard wall k which already totters and loses stones from its summit when a mine is let off Land perhaps have caused accidents. As it is, these operations have been the occasion of ex• tremely little loss of life or injury to limb. Twenty-six men of the light division, who were taken prisoners at the last assault on the Redan, were la‘ely exchanged at Odessa They state that they were hurried across the raft bridge early in the afternoon, immediately after the failure of the attack. They met troops still coming over towards Fo.-t *Nicholas. As they crossed the bridge to reach the north side, and even after reaching Fort Michailoff on the north shore, they were in frequent danger from our shot and shell. They were detained two days in an inclosed fort on the north side, immediately above Fort Michailoff, and then removed to Simferopol. After a short stay there, they were marched to Elizabethgrad, where they were kept one month, and then sent to Odessa. At Odessa they remained until given up to the Firebrand. They appear to have been on the whole well treated, more especially during the time they passed at Odessa. 4ccording to reports brought by the officers of the Firebrand, peace was con fidently expected by the merchants at that volt when the vessel left.—D. News cor., Jan 28. An attempt at murder has lately been committed in one of the camp hospitals. A young boy of nine teen, in the 77th Regiment, had been sent to hospital to be cured of wounds self-inflicted for the purpose of rendering himself unfit for military service. In one of the huts attached to the hospital was an artil leryman, slowly recovering from a wound by the bursting of a shell, in the great explosion of the 15th November last. On the 25th the 77th man went into this hut and borrowed a few shillings of the artilleryman : The latter kept his money under his pillow, and, while handing the shilling or two which he had been asked for, showed at the same time a number of sovereigns which he had in his purse. The sight of this money, twelve pounds, acted as the temptation to the crime which followed. The following morning, taking an opportunity when all the hospital attendants were away from the hut, and fancying apparently that his victim was asleep, the 77th soldier seized a bar of iron, and aimed a blow at the ar.illeryman's head. He was awake, however, or roused, and had time both to call out " murder," and to raise his arm. The arm was broken, and a second blow stunned him, but the alarm brought the hospital sergeant to the hut before the perpe- trator of the crime could effect his escape. A struggle en sued, but the villain was quickly secured, and is now a prisoner awaiting his trial for murder. The artilleryman lingered till the afternoon of the day following that on which he was assaulted, and then died. It is stated that the prisoner—who has not long enlisted in the 77th Regi ment—has acknowledged to have enlisted for the purpose of escaping from the consequences of a robbery he had committed in England.—D. News cor., Jan. 28. The bombardment of the 29th, though doing little damage to the allies, was very severe for the time it lasted : Between nine and ten o'clock on the night of the 29th ult, the camp was startled by the heaviest cannonade that has ever been heard since the fall of Sebastopol. Although the night was pitch dark, offic , 2ra flocked up to Cathcart's hill, and from a considerable distance down the road curious spectators hurried to the front. The cause of the firing appears to have been as follows :—Six boats, full of men, put off from the Russian side of the harbour with the intention, as some suppose, of effecting a landing in Sebastopol, although it is difficult to conjecture what advantage the enemy could have expected to reap from so hazardous an enterprise. Fire was opened upon them; the French are said to have sunk one of them, and then they retired, and the Russians commenced a furious cannonade from all their batteries right round to hiker. mann. It is reported that they sent shells into the Malakoff, and even into the Retlan. As usual, the damage done was very small. A shell fell into the French guardboat, carried off a man's arm, and went through the boat's bottom; but the crew stuffed a coat into the hole and got safely to shore. A round shot went through the roof of the Town• Major's house in the English part of Sebastopol, but hurt no one. The fire was chiefly directed against the French, who replied vigorously. Very heavy while it lasted, it was not long sustained.—Times car., Feb. 1. Religious differences among the clerical officials appears to have already broken out in camp. The rage for proselytism also, adds the Times correspon dent, has reached the Crimea : An Englishman, here apparently as an amateur, but who is said to be the authorised agent of a religious society at home, has been distributing Italian bibles among the Sardinian troops, and attempting to convert them. Gene ral de is Idarrnora complained to General Codringtou, who was rather puzzled to know what to do in the matter, and, as I am informed, told the Sardinian commander to deal with the person in question, should he be caught repeating the offence, according to the Sardinian law and regulation. —lb. The entente between the French and English is not quite b 0 cordiale as we are generall led to THE PRESS. believe. The French cannot forget the "Great Redan " and the "Alalakoff":— Disagreements in the camp are of daily occurrence, and incompatibility of temper is the excuse alleged by both sides. At Kamiesch the French have established a coffee. room, which they call the Great Itedan, and some one had written over the door, " Les Anglais ne peuvent pas entrer ici "—this excited much angry feeling, and would have been bitterly resented, had not the officers interfered and ordered the immediate removal of the obnoxious in scription.—Letter from the Camp, Jan. 26. Inapt 6ortzsgonbtatt. FRANKFORT, Feb. 12. GERMANY is occupied entirely in discussing the probable position of Prussia and the Confederation at the approaching conferences. The merest exer cise of common sense will place the matter in its true bearing, and without offence to national suscepti bilit►cs. Prussia declares never to have lost sight of her neutrality, and, in proof of having maintained that line of conduct strictly, quotes the refusal to participate in the coercive propositions submitted by the Cabinet of Vienna for the acceptance of Russia. A given alternative where the selection of one course leads to certain evil, and where the other is distaste ful, cannot be accounted an act amicable on the part of the proposer. In this Prussia judged rightly, and in declining to identify herself wits the Austrian propositions avoided a position irreconcileable with that of friendly neutrality towards Russia. The question of peace or war, in the first stage, has to be determined by the belligerents themselves, with Austria as an intermediate agent. The preliminaries of peace being settled, such pro visions as might trench upon the general policy of Europe would immediately bring about the second and consequent phasis, and call for a participation of those States connected by territory with the points under discussion. Without Prussia the question of the Baltic navigation could hardly be said to be dis posed of, and Germany can show good cause why its voice should be heard in a settlement of the European balance. As the word " drifting" seems to have a peculiar charm in many of the transactions connected with the war, it may be said that the con ferences for peace may "drift" into a general con gress, and the application of the term become scrupulously just. It is the plan of Austria to advocate the admission of Prussia to the first conference in order to injure the interest of Sardinia, for if the latter once form an integral portion of the peace treaty, an importance might be assumed at a future time to which that country has not a present claim, according to the views of M. de Buol. And in due time would arrive the awkward question of Italy. Austria, in dogged perseverance against the progress of opinion, counts on having the support of Russia, and of being able to turn the conferences to its own profit. But if good faith be the spirit, and common sense the guide of action, it needs no effort to show that Prussia must bide its time and wait for the second stage of affairs to participate in the settlement of European interests. And that this is the opinion of the German Confederation has been verified by the proceedings of the Diet. It has simply accepted the Vienna propositions as a record, without deliberation or comment. Austria has urged the affirmation of the five points by the Diet in order to qualify the latter for a place at the conference, and at the same time has pressed the suit of Prussia with the allies for a similar benefit, unshackled by such stipulation. Thereby the Cabinet of Vienna has opened its game without judgment or discretion. France and England cannot fail to perceive that an unseemly and discreditable attempt is being made to over balance the deliberations of the conference. If the question and terms of peace are made one with the general settlement of European interests, a com• plication of detail must ensue that will render nuga tory the more simple clauses, and materially contri bute to a future misunderstanding. Let the belligerents first arrive at a pacific solution, and that having became a "fait accompli," without reserva tion, the other States of Europe may afterwards take their part in a European settlement, referential to their particular and united interests. _ _ _ J. E. L. THE KING OF DENMARK and the Holstein Diet have not yet come to any agreement. Although the King has annulled their votes requesting a more just recognition of their rights, he cannot stop their prosecution of M. Von Sehule, the Danis'a Minister for the Duchy. The Diet are determined to try him for his abuse of power, and the matter is being pressed forward with great energy. 163 3attion not Inttiligtnte. FRANCE. The plenipotentiaries lor the approaching Congress are gradually arriving in Paris. Baron Brunow, one of the Russian Plenipotentiaties at the Congress, arrived on Thursday evening at the hotel of the Russian Embassy, M. de Bonrqueney having pre viously arrived from Vienna, while M. Cavour, Count Buol, Count Orloff, and Lord Clarendon were expected to reach the capital before the end of this week, and Aali Pacha by the 22nd inst. The French Senate and Legislative Body are con voked for the 3rd of March next. M. Billault, in a report to the Emperor upon the duties of the Senate, has recommended the collection of the resolutions of the councils-general, and the same being brought under the notice of the Senate as a useful indication of those measures of amelioration and practica► pro gress for which his Majesty confides in the initiative of the Senate. The Emperor has approved of the recommendations of the report. The Di , buts during the week has written with re markable acerbity against the alleged disinclination of England for peace. In the opinion of the Deb its, Russia will concede the non•tefortification of the Aland Isles. A pamphlet, by Baron Gustave de Romand, upon the peace, has excited some attention. The writer claims the Congress as a great triumph for the French Emperor, and argues that the peace will es tablish the European equilibrium, and suppress the revolutionary interest. The monthly returns of the Bank have appeared, and show an increase over those of January in every item. General Bosquet has been raised to the rank of Senator. AUSTRIA. Count Buol, accompanied by the Baron Meysen • berg, M. de Kletzl, M. de Werner, and Count Calman Szechenyi, was to leave Vienna early in the seek, and, stopping a day at Manheim, was not expected to reach Paris before the close of the week. Measures were under consideration for re-estab lishina the Civic Guard. It would consist of infantry, artillery, and cavalry corps. The conduct of the Italian bishops in taking undue advantage of the Concordat, has given rise to new negotiations with Rome. The pregnancy of the Empress has been officially announced this week. A telegraphic despatch from Berlin, on the 11th, stated ! The committee of the Frankfort Diet has deliberated on the Austrian propositions, and recommends an adhesion to the preliminary bases, with a reservation as to the pro. positions that may be presented relative to the fifth point. PRUSSIA. The question whether Prussia will be admitted to the conferences at Paris is still aebated at Berlin. The Zeit, on the 9th, says : It is still uncertain whether Prussia will, or will not, take part in the conferences which are to open at I'aris on the 21st of this month. Prussia hesitates to accept the five propositions with all the obligations they entail, lest she should become bound by them in case of the failure of negotiations. At the same time it is certain that no peace will be finally concluded to which Prussia is not a party. In the House of Deputies, the motion of Count Schwerin for an inquiry into the intervention of the Government in the lute elections was brought before the house last week, and, after a vigorous debate of two days, rejected by a majority of 203 against 92 foi the motion. Colonel Illanteuffel still remained at Vienna, and was in constant communication with Count Buol. Baron de Manteuffel, it was very generally rumoured, would certainly leave for Paris in a few days. It is reported that the Prussian Government in tends to propose to the Frankfort Diet a vote for the maintenance of the forces sustained on a war footing in the various States, in pursuance of a federal decree. RUSSIA. The departure of Count Orloff for Paris, fixed for the 9th, was postponed till the 12th, when his Excel lency left St. Petersburg for Berlin, en route for Paris. Administrative changes in the higher departments are spoken of in St. Petersburg. The ietuovi.l of the Chief of Police end the Minister of the Interior is considered probable. The Czar has issued an order of the day on the death of Prince Paskiewitch, appointing certain regiments to bear the deceased's name in honour of his distinguished services. '!'he appointment of Prince Gurtschakoff as Lieutenant-General of Poland is confirmed. TURKEY. The question of thu Principalities will be resumed as soon as Lord Stratford tie Redefine shall have received his instructions. A 4 to the important ques tions relative to the right of property for Europeans, M. Thouvenel has consented that they shall be con•