The Press. — London, England, 1855-08-18 00:00:00

AUG. 18, 1855. and hitherto unexpected, intelligence may be looked for from the Crimea in the course of the next few days." The following official despatches have been pub lished in the Gazette : Before Sebastopol, July 31. I beg to inclose the list of casualties to the 29th inst.' which I regret to say are very heavy. The proiimity of our works to those of the enemy, to gether with the lightness of the night, and rocky nature of the ground, making it impossible to obtain rapid cover, materially contributes to such a result; notwithstanding which disadvantages our engineers continue steadily, though slowly, to advance in the direction of the Great Sedan. An agreeable change has taken place the last few days in the temperature of the weather ; heavy showers of rain have occasionally fallen. _ . Several reconnaissances have been made from the valley of Baidar towards Ozenbash, Aitodor, and through the Phoros Pass towards Aloupka, the enemy nowhere appear ing in any foroe ; but the narrowness of the mountain roads, with the exception of the Woronzow, makes it un nacesaary for them to alter their concentrated position on the heights of Mackenzie and plateau of the Belbeck. The health of the troops continues very satisfactory. August 4. On the night of the 2nd inst., between ten and eleven o'clock, the enemy made a sortie in considerable force by the Woronzow-road. The strength of the enemy is com puted to be about 2,000. Their object was to destroy a heavy iron chevaux-de-frieze, made across the Woronzow road, between our right and left attacks, and being further supported by heavy columns in rear, to take advantage of such circumstances as might present themselves. They came on with loud cheers and bugling, and were received with great gallantry by our advanced picket, under the command of Lieutenant R. E. Carr, of the 39th Regi ment, who withdrew his men, firing at the same time upon the enemy, to the main body, under the command of Cap tain Leckie, 39th Regiment. A heavy and well-directed fire was opened upon the enemy by the party under Captain Leckie on the Woron zow-road, as also by the guards of the trenches on the right of the fourth parallel, under the command of Captain Boyle, of the 89th Regiment, and Captain Turner of the Ist Royals, which, in about ten minutes, caused the enemy to retire from an attack which, if it had not been so well met, might have been a serious affair. The enemy left four men killed, and some wounded were eirried away. We had only one man slightly wounded in this affair. I have the honour to transmit the returns of casualties from the 30th July to the 2nd August. I have the satisfaction of informing your lordship of the return to this army of Captain Montagu, of the Royal Engineers, from being a prisoner of war. He expresses himself highly grateful for the kindness with which he was treated by the Russians during his captivity. . . _ . It is with great regret that I have to communicate to your lordship that Lieutenant-General Sir R. England, G.C.B. ' has been compelled, upon the recommendation of a medical board, to return to England. Sir R. England is the last of the general officers who left the United Kingdom in command of a division; he has remained at his post throughout the trying heats of Bulgaria, and the severities and hardships of the winter's campaign in the Crimea; and great credit is due to this officer for the constancy and un tiring zeal he has exhibited in carrying out arduous and difficult duties on all occasions. JAMES SIMPSON, General Commanding. Admiral Lyons has transmitted a series of de• spatches announcing further operations in the Sea of Azoff, where a combined English and French squad ron, under the command of Captain Osborn, has effected the destruction of a vast number of ilsh stores, granaries, &-c., on the coast, without sustain ing any loss. SIEGE CHRONICLE. Letters from the camp to the 4th inst. have arrived but they contain little news of importance. The correspondent of the Daily News writes on that day : No event of much importance in the siege operations has occurred since the last mail left. The nights have been generally too light for much progress to be made in advancing the approaches toward the principal points against which the operations are now directed, but the new batteries have been forwarded, and the approaches already existing have been placed in a more favorable condition for future necessities. Our allies have taken advantage of a few hours of darkness to throw up, unobserved by the enemy, an important branch approach on the Malakoff ad vance. A very complete system of telegraphic signals has been established between the fleet and our works in front, and from facilities of observation obtained by vessels placed in certain positions with regard to the enemy's works, the information which may thus be furnished is not unlikely to prove occasionally of a very valuable nature. Our allies still speak with confidence of the Malakoff position being gained by them before the Imperial fete•day of the lith of August. It is doubted by many whether the preparations will be sufficiently ripe for such an event within the period named. It is stated that Lord Stratford de Reach& is coming to the Crimea, by her Majesty's command, to hold an in• vestiture of the Order of the Bath. It was also expected that the distribution of the Crimean medals would take place at the same time, but it is now said that they will not arrive in time. The Alma and Inkermann medalists are daily diminishing in number. Independent of the casualties from sickness, our nightly losses from wounds and injuries are necessarily very severe. The close neighbourhood of the hostile wOrki renders theta THE PRESS. 'unavoidable. It is calculated that, taking the whole allied force engaged in the siege operations, the average number of men placed hors de combat are now not less than one hundred and fifty during each twenty-four hours, or between four thousand and five thousand per month. This estimate appears to be immense, but it is based upon returns which cannot be contradicted. The Duke of Newcastle has been suffering from illness. His attack is said to be of a dysenteric character—a malady to which many new comers appear to be liable. The Commander of the Forces, it if, understood, has ob jected to the number of shells which have been discharged from our batteries of late. The constant consumption prevents the accumulation of a store in the batteries to such an amount as is requisite on the occasion of a regular bombardment. In future shells are rarely to be fired, ez• oepting on special order, or on the occurrence of a sortie on the part of the enemy. THE FRENCH ATTACK. The Moniteur of Sunday published the following despatch from General Pelissier to the Minister of War, dated July 31:— Monsieur le Marechal,—The besieged have again made an attack against our works on the Malakoff side, which has not succeeded better than the former ones. In the night between the 24th and 25th of July, about midnight, the enemy, after a heavy cannonade, made a sortie with about 150 men to the left of the Little Redan, and arrived at our extreme ambuscades on the right, which we were endeavouring to connect. This spot is very near the town ; the night was pitch dark, and the Russians were on our gabionade in a moment. General Bisson, of Dulac's division, who was in com mand of the brigade in advance, had given full and precise orders on every point, and had intrusted the right defence to Lieutenant• Colonel de Taxis, a distinguished officer. Although the enemy came upon a line of workmen, they were received with vigour, and much cut up by the mus ketry of the posts of the Chasseurs-a•Pied of the Guards and of some companies of the 10th of the Line, placed to the right and to the left of the works, and taking in flank anything likely to attack the workmen, who themselves took part in this action and behaved very well, under Cap tain Lecucq, of the Engineers, who happened to be on duty that night at the works. The Russians retreated, leaving one wounded man be hind them, who died before he reached the ambulance, and eight killed in our ambuscades and in the ditches of the place. It is to be presumed that a number of the enemy were hit by our fire, as they had three or four hours of a dark night to carry off their dead and wounded, yet they left some on the ground. This little night-combat, in which we had a dozen men wounded, does honour to the general, to the superior officers who commanded on that side of our attacks, as well as to the brave officers, subalterns, and soldiers, among whom I beg to point out to your excellency Sergeant Casaux, of the 10th Grenadiers of the Line, who killed two or three Russians with his bayonet, and the Chayseur-ii-Pied Eye, who killed two. The works were resumed as soon as the enemy was driven back again into the place. Your excellency is aware that they are pushed on ac tively on all points, and that as yet the besieged has made no new attempt to impede them; they fire at them, espe cially at night, but we advance steadily nevertheless. PELISSIER, Commandenin Chief. STATE OF ST. PETERSBURG. A private letter received in Paris from St. Petersburg mentions that great depression prevails among all classes in that city, owing to the duration of the war, which com pletely paralyses all branches of commerce and industry. This depression, adds the writer, has gained even the lead ing personages of the old Russian party, who were hitherto so warlike and so enthusiastic, but who are now beginning to despond. Nearly all labour is suspended in the manu factories, in consequence of the want of raw materials, which no longer arrive from abroad, anti also from the want of hands, all being employed in the defence of the empire. The produce of the soil has no longer a market abroad, and in the interior business is at a stand still. Articles of the most indispensable kind have at tained an exorbitant price. Coffee, sugar, and salt, are luxuries which now are hardly to be seen, except on the tables of the great. The nobility support all the burden of the sacrifices in money imposed by the present circum stances, and the number of boyards who will be utterly ruined by the war is beyond all idea. Add to this the grief of so many families, who have all to deplore the death of one or several relatives, and it will be easily imagined that the higher classes of the Russians are not over-disposed for amusements and fetes, and yet they are forced by superior orders to be gay. The summer season has not stopped the course of balls and soirees. The Emperor having one day said, in presence of his courtiers, that the nobles ought to invent some plan for preventing the com• merce of the capital from feeling too severely the present state of things, and particularly the blockade of the Baltic, they forthwith set about organising a series of tableaux vivans, the performers in which are persons of the highest class of society. As these tableaux represent the different episodes of Russian history at all epochs, the actors and actresses in them arc obliged to make purchases of the richest stuffs for the suitable costume. Tableaux vivana for the relief of the suffering tradesmen are at this moment the fashion on the banks of the Neva, and each noble feels obliged to give at least one of these patriotic pantomimes to avoid incurring the anger of his master, when no more generous motive exists. The tradespeople of St. Petersburg are relieved for the moment, but tableaux vivant on such a scale at length become onerous, and something else must be soon invented to alleviate the misery of the industrial classes, 779 THE BALTIC FLEET. (From our Own Correspondent.) Off Sweaborg, August dth, 1855. The mortar and gun-boats attack Sweaborg to morrow. The French mortar-boats have not joined—they remain at Nargen—why, I cannot tell. THE RUSSIAN BALTIC FORTRESSES. The fortress of Sweaborg is the first formidable ob stacle iu the Gulf of Finland, and does the outpost duty, as it were, fin the great military entrepots of St. Petersburg. On the east this fortress also partially commando the most navigable channel for vessels of a large draught of water, on the voyage to Cronstadt, which is distant 103 miles, on the St. Petersburg side. Sweaborg is composed of seven rocky islands, and is situated about three miles and r half from Helsingfors. It fell into the possession of Russia with the grand duchy of Finland ; but, unlike Helsingfors, which was first regularly fortified by the late Emperors Alexander and Nicholas, Sweaborg had been a place of considerable strength under the Swedes. General Ehrenfwald, an able Swedish officer, considering that three islands might be rendered a formidable stronghold, and might enable Sweden to main tain her power iu the Baltic, in spite of the ambitious de signs of Russia, projected the plan of their fortification. Previously, however, ships were built and repaired there for the Swedish nary. The works were commenced in 1748, but were not completely finished when acquired by the Russians, who have continued making improvements, and devising every means of rendering the place impreg nable. They say, the Swedes began, but we finished the Gibraltar of the North." These works are stupendous. The walls are chiefly hewn granite, covered with earth, rising in some places to a height of forty-eight feet The batteries, which commence on a level with the water, and rise in tiers one above another, are mounted, it is alleged, with nearly a thousand guns. In Wolf's Island, the prin cipal of the group, there is a dry dock, ca; able of contain. ing eleven or twelve frigates, which has been completely hollowed out of solid rock, the length being 300 feet, breadth 200, and depth 14 feet. At one extremity of this dock is a basin 200 feet square, closed at each end with sluice gates, which serves for the entrance and exit of frigates, and for repairing and building ships. The stores and ammunition for the batteries are deposited in maga zines, on the edge of the water. The harbour can contain seven ships of the line and a few frigates. The three fortresses—Cronstadt, Sweaborg, and Helsingfors—could not hare been intended for the defence alone of St. Petersburg. They tell their own tale. The magnitude of their works, and the incessant activity in % the arsenals during the last half-century, should have clearly warned Europe that these huge fortresses were intended as a basis of operations against its liberties and the rights of its rulers. Cronstadt, which commands the passages at the mouth of the Neva, was taken from the Swedes by Peter the Great, and first converted by him from a desert island into a harbour for his navy in 1710. The most invulnerable portion of the stronghold, a rampart of granite built in the sea fur the protection of the shipping, was began and finished under the superintendence of Admiral Greig, who is styled the father of the Russian navy. Doubts are en tertained whether the guns of Cronstadt completely com mand the northern passage; the Marquis de Cuatine, a keen inquirer, declares that although he put himself to some trouble to learn as much, he could not find the Rus sian who would inform him of the fact.. The population of Cronstadt is about 45,000, of Helsingfors, which is the capital of the district, 10,000, and of Sweaborg about 4,000, the greater part of whom are tradesmen and merchants, who depend on suppling the garrison and fleet, and who, as if the Russians anticipated on this occasion a serious attack from the allies, have been removing to Helsingfors during the last few weeks. THE INCOME TAX.-From a parliamentary paper just published it appears that in the year ending April 5, 1854, the total number of persons paying in come tax under Schedule D was 205,796, of whom 39 were assessed at 50,0001. and upwards ; 435 between 10,0001. and 50,000/. ; 736 between 10,0001. and 5,000/. ; 418 between 4,0001. and 5,0001. ; 827 be tween 3,0001. and 4,000/. ; 1,568 between 2,0001. and 3,000/. ; 5,350 between 1,0001. And 2,0001.; 805 be tween 9001. and 1,000/. ; 1,794 between 8001. and 900/. ; 2,267 between 7001. and 8001. ; 3,175 between 6001. and 700/. ; 5,644 between 5001. and 000/. ; 7,369 between 4001. and 500/. ; 15,534 between 3001. and 400/. ; 33,399 between 2001. and 300/. ; 44,109 be tween 1501. and 2001. ; 121,983 between 1001. and 1501.; and 20.544 under lOW. In schedule (E) the number paying income tax was in all 69,588, of whom 53 were classed as having incomes exceeding 5,000/. a year ; 26 between 4,0001. and 5,0001.; 42 between 3,0001. and 4,000/. ; 149 between 2,0001. and 3,000/. ; 1,216 between 1,0001. and 2,000/. ; 193 between 9(X)/. and 1,0001.; 285 between 8001. and 900/. ; 422 be tween 7001. and 8001. ; 594 between 6(K)l. and 7001. ; 1,066 between 5001. and VOL; 2,062 between 4001. and 500/. ; 4,295 between 300/. and 4001.; 9,348 from 2001. to 300/. ; 9,598 from 1501. to 2001. ; 24,994 from 100/. to 150/. ; and 15,245 below 1001. a year. During the above year, of 6,439,0001., sche dule A contributed 2,888,0001.; B, 367,000/. ; C, 757,0001.; D, 2,057,000/. ; and E, 367,9101. In Ire land 16,686 persons paid income tax under schedule I), and 4,127 persouslunder schedule E.