The Sun. — London, England, 1854-03-13 00:00:00

- _ . Intrb Nintion. SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock. TATTERSALL'S. (THIS EVENING.) COVENTRY HANDI CAP. 4to 1 agst Georgey (taken). 4to 1 agst Battery (taken). sto 1 agst Whalebone (taken). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STA KES. 7to 1 agat Lamprocles (taken). 10 to 1 agst Defiance (taken.) 12 to 1 agst Red Lion (taken). METROPOLITAN STAKES. 10 to 1 agst Ariosto (taken freely). 18 to 1 agst Haco (taken). 20 to 1 apt Lamprocles (taken). CHESTER CUP. 40 to 1 apt Baalbee (taken). 40 to 1 ag4 Urnbriel (taken). TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS. 3to 1 agst Boiardo (taken 7 to 2). DERBY. 0 to 1 agst Autocrat (taken.) 7to 1 agst King Tom (taken). 9to 1 agst Dervish (taken). 18 to 1 agst Wild Huntsman. 30 to 1 agst Acrobat (taken). 30 to 1 agst 3Sissrayas (taken). 35 to 1 agst Bessus (taken), 40 to 1 agst Corin (taken). 50 to 1 agst Etrly Bird (taken). IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT, HOUSE OF LORDS—(THIS EVENING.) The LORD CEB.Noenoft took his seat on the woolsack at 5 o'clock. The Earl of DONOUGHNIORE presented a petition from Clonmel, praying for an improved system of postal arrangements in Ireland. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY presented a number of petitions in favour of the egtablishinent of reforma tory institutions for juvenile offenders. Lord BROUGEIA.SI drew the attention of the house to the subject of the a.ssimila.tton of the mercantile laws of England and Scotland. He stated that, in addition to the bill which he introduced on a former evening, he intended to lay on the table another bill importing into the English law, some portion of the mercantile law and practice of Scotland, which he believed would be of great advantage to the commercial community. The LORD CHANCELLOR. concurred in the im portance of the object, but thought it would not be ad visable to make such alterations in the Eogli:ih law with out consideration. THE EASTERN QUESTION. The Earl of DERBY read the article in the St. Peters urg Journal, recently copied into the different daily journals, justifying the conduct of Russia with regard to Turkey, disavowing that she had any ideas of conquest, and stating that, the Czar had always most unreservedly communicated his views and intentions to Sir H. Sey mour. The noble earl also referred to the comments of the Tins upon the article, observing that this news paper had been intrusted during the last few weeks with secrets which ought to be known to none hut the Cabinet, and had moreover obtained p)ssession of papers which had been 'withheld from Parliament, and apparently with the authority of the Government to make their contents public—(hear, hear)—and that it must, therefore, be supposed that these com ments had a kind of °Cal character. Ths Times, after stating that propositions had been made by Russia to Lord J. Russell, when he was in the Fo reign -office, for the partition of Turkey, went on to en quire "what answer did the Emperor get from his lord ship," and added—"We confidently reply that he was met with an indignant refusal on the part of the British Go• vernnient." Now, he (the Eid of Derby) wished to know how the Times knew anything about such a matter, which the Government •ha I, from a sense of honour, deemed it their duty to withhold from the knowledge of Parliament. (LEFT SPEAKING.) HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(THIS EVENING.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Brighton, Hove, and Preston Waterworks, the Hastings and St. Leonard's Gas, the London Life Asso ciation, the Middleton Gas, and the Radcliffe and Pil kington Gas Bills, were read a third time and passed. On the motion that th 9 East London W.iterworks Bill be con , litered, Mr. A. PELLATT moved that the bill be read a third tima this day six months. Mr. JOHN M'GREGOR spoke in support of the bill, and. against Mr. A. Pellatt's amendment. Lord SEYMOUR thought the house would neither act consistently with reason or with justice, if they should let this bill go on. Mr. ALCOCK spoke in favour of the bill going into committee. Lord PALMERSTON said he had had communica tions both with parties in favour of the bill, and those against it, and on the whole he was against the second reading of the bill. (Rear, hear.) After a few words from Mr. Bright. Mr. French, and Lord D. Stuart, the house divided, when the numbers appeared— For the second reading ll4 For the amendment 143 Majority against the bill —29 PETITIONS. Mr. H. W. WICKHAM presented the following pe titions :—From the congregation of Wesleyan Metholists worshipping in Richmond-terrace Chapel, Bradford, Yorkshire, praying that public-houses and beer-shops may be closed the whole of Sundays, except to lodgers and bona fide travellers ; from th e congregation wor shipping at the Centenery Wesleyan Chapel, and the gib gate Wesleyan Chapel, Bradford, Yorkshire ; also from the congregation worshipping at 'the Wesleyan Chapel, Low Moor, Yorkshire, praying that the sale of intoxi cating liquors may be prohibited during the whole of Sunday. Mr. BRIGHT presented a petition - from Mr. Urqu hart, stating that he was formerly employed as secretary of embassy in Turkey for many years, and he believes that Turkey is able to defend herself against any hostile attacks of Russia, and believing that an internal re volution will arise in Turkey consequent upon our inteferanca in the quarrel of Turkey and Russia, and praying the house to withdraw our amblasad or from Constantinople and our fleet from the Black Sea. (Loud laughter.) The hon. member also presented a petition from an in dividual named William Peplow, Stafford, praying the house to order an inquiry into the secret diplomatic cor respondence between this country and Russia. THE BALTIC FLEET. Mr. FRENCH observed that in the newspapers of the Bth instant, there appeared in the public prints a report of the public dinner given to Sir C. Napier, on the previous evening, at the Reform Club. By that re port it appeared that the right hon. gentleman, the First Lord of the Admiralty, in his official capacity, gave Sir C. Napier liberty to declare war on entering the Baltic. Now he wished to ask the right hon baronet two questions upon this point ; first, did the right hon. baronet give such authority—and, secondly, if he did, would it be acted upon while we were in anticipation of the arrival of the Czar's reply to the ultimatum which had been offerded him. Sir J. GRAHAM said—Sir, although I might be wil ling to dispute the right of the hon. member to put a question to me with respect to what passed after dinner (roars of laughter)—yet perhaps it would be disrespectful to the house if I did not give an answer to the ques tion, (Hear, hear.) I have to state, then, to the nonnurable gentleman, that with respect to the authority given by me it arose i n thi s way— sir C. Napier had observed that before he entered the Baltic, he must h ave authority to .declare war, and I said, in reply t o thi s remark, that when he entered the Baltic, Ihcped th ere wou ld b e no di ffi cu l ty on h i s part in decla ring war. (Hear, hear.) No declaration of war has, however, been made yet, n or has any order bee n given to Sir C. Napier to enter the Baltic, but when war ill declared, a proper notification will be given to him and the country of it. (Cheers.) Mr. BRIGHT said that he might not be out of order, he would move the adjournment of the house. He was quite certain that the answer of th e r i g h t hon. b aronet did not meet the quest ion. (Hear.) The right hon. baronet had stated that he ought not to be asked a question as to something that occurred after dinner and the house had put an interpretation upon the declaration which he was sure the condition of the right hon. baronet at the time did not warrant. (Hear and laughter.) He could not help thinking that it was inconsistent that a dinner to both ser. vices, w hich was proposed to be g ot u p a short time ago at the Mansion House, and was post poned by, he rather thought, the expressed wish of the noble earl at the head of her Majesty's Government, and that at the dinner at the Reform Club , t he other night, to an admiral just appointed to a high command, three Cabinet Ministers thought fit to attend. H e thought it remarkable that the right hon. baronet the First Lord of the Admiralty should have vouched at the Reform Club for the "discretion" of Sir C. Napier ; but it appeared to him (Mr. Bright) that it seemed to be a rule of the Government that officers fit for a high com mand did not come to years of discretion till they had reached 70 years of age. He (Mr. Bright) must saY he "ad the report of those proceedings with pain and hu miliation ; ina, looking to the horrors attendant upon war,. he wanted to know how the reoklen levity die' ZEE= played by the noble lord the member for Tiverton I (Lord Palmerston) could be justified. Lord PALMERSTON said the observations of the hon. and reverend gentleman—(roars of laughter)— seemed to call for a reply. (Hear, hear.) Mr. COBDEN rose to order, as the noble lord had made use of an expression which was not justified by the rules of the house. He should not misinterpret the noble lord if he said the expression which the noble lord had used was intended to be personally offensive ; to . say the least, it was flippant and undeserved. (Hear, hear.) Lord PALMERSTON would not quarrel with the hon. gentleman about his own words. (Hear, hear.) But the hon. gentleman the member for Manchester had* been displeased with the circumstance of his having been chairman at the dinner given . to Sir C. Napier, and the hon. gentleman had been kind enough to express an opinion upon his conduct on that occasion. Now, all he had to say in reply to this was, that any opinion the hon. member might entertain of him, either personally or inhis political capacity, was a matter of the most perfect indifference to him. (Cheers.) He was further con vinced the opinion of the country with regard to his conduct could in no way be influenced by the hon. gen tleman, and he therefore treated the hon. gentleman's sneers with the most perfect indifference and contempt. The hon, member had read no doubt with great pain the opinions of the gentlemen at that dinner, and was probably of opinion that this country ought to sub mit to any degradation rather than submit to war, The hon. member thought Sir C. Napier was too old ; well, circumstances and time would show ; but if the hon. member would get himself elected a member of the Reform Club. A cry of " He is a member." (Laughter.) He was a member I Well, then he was a most unworthy member, but when there was again a dinner to a dis tinguished officer, he (Lord Palmerston) would be happy to hear his speech • and to discuss with him the propriety of peace or war. Sir T. HERBERT rose to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty, whether certain words attributed to him in a speech delivered at a dinner given in the Reform Club to Admiral Sir C. Napier, have been correctly reported, which appeared in the Times of the Bth of March, viz., " We, as Reformers, may be proud that the honour of the British flag in the Euxine and the Baltic is entrusted to two such champions as Admiral Dundas and Sir C. Napier." Sir J. GRAHAM said if the house thought it fit to pursue this inquiry further and entertain this subject deliberately, he should not hesitate to answer the ques tion. He believed the words which the hon. baronet here real were correctly reported, and he (Sir J. Gra ham) had nothing to retract and nothing to explain. He was invited as a guest of the Reform Club, and it did appear to him not improper to congratulate the members of the tclub en two of their most distinguished members being appointed by different Governments to fill two such high commands as those of the fleets in the Euxine and the North Sea. (Hear, hear.) Sir W. MOLESWORTH defended the part he took in the Reform Club dinner. He had never belonged to the school of the hon. gentleman the member for Man chester, and he never would, for he believed that school contained much that was selfish and narrow-minded. Mr. SPOONER thought the noble viscount (Lord Palmerston) was wrong when he said the hon. member for Manchester (Mr. Bright) stood alone in his opinions on this question. He thought the country was with the hon. member for Manchester on this subject, and he thought the country ought, instead of feasts like that at the Reform Club, have public fasts on the approach of a war. Mr. DISRAELI thought they were making too much of this matter. The right hon. baronet was said to have given Sir C. Napier anr,hority to declare war, but it was well known that the gallant admiral never obeyed orders, and perhaps it was only a just inference that in this case the gallant admiral would adhere to his former rule, and do his bast to preserve peace instead of entering up.in hostilities. (Hear, hear.) The only part of the right hon. baronet's pipe that he complained of was the 'part which heaped vituperation upon the character of the E nperor . of Rassia. While we were still at peace with Russia it was unwise in a British Minister to indulge in such language, but he could not forget that so:ne months ago - the right hon. gentle man spoke in a similar strain of the Emperor who was to be onr ally in the coming war, and perhaps as in the the case of the potentate in this instance, twelve months would change the Emperor from an enemy to a friend. Mr. SPOONER suggested that a day should be set apart for a solemn fast before we entered into war with Russia. (Hear.) Mr. COBDEN said, if there was one man in the world whom he should have the least suspected of attending the dinner at the Reform Club, and delivering the speech which he did there that man would have been his right hon. friend the member for S )athwark. (Hear.) Tact speech was at direct variance with all the opinions which, he had supposed, for the last fifteen years the right hon. baronet entertained, and the right hon. baronet should be the last man to speak of his hon. friend the member for Manchester in the acrimonious spirit which he had displayed to-night. He indorsed every word which had been uttered by his hon. friend the member for Manchester, amid believed the speeches which Ministers made at this dinner was not only un becoming their position, but likely to be seriously detri mental to the interests of the country. (ajar, hear.) The subject then dropped. • COLONIAL APPOINTMENTS. Mr. G. MO3 ,viahed t) pat a q ilation to Lard Rumen, relative t: the rep►rtrl axy)int n‘nt of Mr. Stonor t b 3 a Paiine Julg: at 3lhourne. This gen. tlernan hal twice been reported aglinit As gailty of bribery, and he th MOt th4t eir3 unitan' ei ought to have deterred Government from giving him the ap,»intalent. Mr. F. PEEL ju4tih3l the appointment, but a .1- mitted that the Colonial-office was not aware of the circinnitanca referral t) by the hmourable gentleman when the appointment took place. [LEFT SPEAKING'] ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. MIDLAND CIRCIIIT.—NOTTINGHAM, March 10. (Before Mr. Justice Coleridge.) CHARGE OF MURDERING A WIFE. Edward Theobald Stevenson, aged 26, a carpenter, was indicted for the wilful murder of his wife, Sarah Ann Stevenson, on the 27th of September. Mr. Booth appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. O'Brien defended the prisoner. This case was of an extraordinary, though most dis gusting nature. It seemed that in September last the deceased had a miscarriage, and after lingering in intense agony for several days she died on the 27th, the direct cause, according to the medical evidence, being inflam mation of the peritoneum. Before her death, and when she believed herself to be in a dying state, she made a declaration to her mother and two police officers to the effect that her huiland had, on several occasions, em ployed an instrument for the purpose of procuring abor tion. The medical witnesses stated that such an em ployment of an instrument would produce the inflamma tion which had caused the death of the woman. It might, however, they admitted, be caused simply by cold. Mr. O'Brien addressed the jury on behalf of the pri soner and his lordship summed up. A verdict of acquittal was returned, and the prisoner was ordered to be discharged, his lordship, however, re marking, that although the evidence as to the cause of the woman's death was too doubtful to warrant the jury in finding him guilty of the murder, still it could not be doubted by any one who had heard the evidence that he had behaved in the brntd and wicked manner described in the statements of his unfortunate wife. NORFOLK CIRCUIT.—BEDFORD, MARCH 11. (Before the Lord Chief Baron.) MURDER AT HEATIT,AND.REACII. Abel Burrows, 37, a gardener, was indicted for the murder of Charity Glenister, at Heath-and-Reach, near Leighton Buzzard. The prisoner lived in a cottage with his wife, neer another cottage, in which his father resided with the de ceased, who was about 70 years of age. On the night of the 24th Nov., the prisoner became very violent, and went to his father's house very much excited, and using strong language. The old woman, Charity Glenister, went into the house of A.dains, a neighbour, as prisoner had threatened her life. In the course of the night pri soner's father was heard to call out " Murder ;" and in the morning, about 8 o'clock, prisoner went to Adams's house, burst the door open, ran up the stairs, and having caught hold of the poor old woman, struck her on the head with a stone-breaking hammer and knocked her down. He continued to strike her, although Adams tried to prevent him. He expressed his joy at the event, and said Charity and his own wife had sent his mother's soul to hell, and would cause him to be hanged, as he meant to murder both. He sang hymns and uttered strange incoherent expressions until the policeman of the village took him befure a magistrate. On being com mitted to Bedford gaol he was much excited and con tinued so for some weeks. Medical testim my was given that prisoner had been , a person of loose habits, and had suffered from delirium tremens. Lately he had been cautioned by a surgeon to leave off drink, or he would lose his senses. It appeared that he had the stone hammer in his possession for some time, and threatened the life of his father, and expressed his determination to murder his own wife, but no person attempted to take it from him. The poor old woman his victim had the left side of her skull completely beaten in, and she died that same morning. The Chief B teen summed up strongly in favour of the admission of the prisoner's plea of inseni t. • The jury retired fer !ieme tines, aul on coming into court returned a verdict of " Wilful murder." The judge then passed sentence of death upon the pri -50462,, wbo ttil get betray the 'cut eraotioz o. concern, A RUSSIAN MEMORANDUM. The Journal (11 St. Petersbourg publishes, in a supplement to its number of the 19th of February (3d Much), a memorandum addressed by the Rus sian Government to its diplomatic agents abroad, and communicated by each of them, in virtue of instructions annexed to it, to the Government to which ho is accredited. The importance of this document induces us to giro it in extols°. " MEMORANDUM. " At the moment when, the Eastern question becomes more complicated than ever by the entrance into the Black Sea of the fleets of England and France, and by the rupture of our diplomatic relation with both Governments, it is natural that each of the principal parties interested in this affair should seek to throw off its shoulders the burden of responsibility attached to the possible consepances of the redoubtable question. The conscience of the Cabinets becom es alarmed, and starts back with reason at the idea of a general war in which the pros i nritie,s of a long peace would perish, and which may expose to new dangers a society scarcely recovered from the last revolutions. Many efforts have been male and are still daily male to fix upon Russia the cause of the actual crisis, and to throw upon her the reproach of the evils that may result therefrom. A retrospective glance on the motives and different phases of this crisis will show that if it has assumed such alarming proportions the fault is net to be attri butbd to R'14319. " It is far from our thoughts to wish to throw a doubt upon the piciic seathneats of the powers who hwe just assumed an attitude next to hostile against us Certainly they desired peace, as we ourselves desired it. But prevention, distrust, and an unjust appreciation of our political views with regard to the Ottoman empire, which has been the principle of their conduct since the beginning, could not but lead them naturally to the very consequences they wished to avoid. Their position and ours have been false ones since the beginning— " 1. From the point of view from which they regarded the question. " 2. By the measures they adopted for its solution. " A few words will sufile 3 to recal what was the first cause of our difference with the Porte. " For some time all the acts of the Turkish Government to wards us, as towards the Eastern Church in Turkey, bore the evident stamp of hostility. It is known what sympathies and spiritual relations an identity of worship and of race has established from time immemorial between Russia and the majority of the Christian subjects of the Sultan. It gives to us in Turkey a moral influence which we do not wish to deny. It is a fact which I did not create. It is the work of time and place. Independently of treaties, it is the result of • the force of circumstances. Hence the distrust it causes to the Turkish Government. Hence its desire to weaken the Eastern Church out of fear of the bonds that unite it to Russia; its efforts to keep it in a state of inferiority opposite other Chris tian communities, and to favour at its expense the progress of their propaganda. It wauld be too long to enumerate here, one by one, all the proofs of this system, all the ooen or secret blows which the Turkish Governmeathu aimed during the last years at the worship we profess. Direst interference in its internal affairs, and vi olati o e of its st states, under the pretext of reforms to be accomplished in the clerical administration ; constant ir regularities in the election of the patriarchs; germs of discord purposely sown in the spiritual relations between the Greek and Slave races ; obstacles of every description thrown in the way of the development of the Bulgarian and Bosnian Churches, of the instruction of the native clergy, of the reli gions edireati in of the people; interdiction, for that purpose, of the use of the national language in the performance of worship ; prohibition or partial laceration of the holy books , sent for by the Greco-Slave clergy to Russia for their use, and which it cannot easily procure elsewhere ; prohibition to build a stone church on the spot where a wooden one has broken down ; in another case permission granted to the La tins to build a church where it is denied to the Greeks ; a thousand facts, in a word, which, taken each individually, have but a relative importance, bat which, taken in their ewer - 4W, demonstrate to us that for years it has been the firm intention of the Turkish Government to contribute to foster other faiths, to diminish with the power of ours the number of those whom it regards as the adherents of Russia. " We do not here speak of acts still more crying than this mute persecution—of the massacres at Aleppo, of cruelties, profanations, forced conversion to Islamism, in Albania, in Bulgaria, in Herzegowina, in Montenegro. They are more generally known. " It is all these vexatious facts, the object of our constant representations, which, crowned lately by the praju lice done to the Greeks iu the affair of the Holy Places, and, finally, by the public infraction of the firm in destined to re-establish the balance between them and the L atin Church by proceed ings meet hurtful to the feelings of the Imperial Cabinet, and of the Emperor in particular, modish I, it is known, the mis sion of Prince Mensettikoff to Constantinople. " It will be we lerstee 1, then, that a pare and simple set tlement of the affair of the Holy Places, by means of a new firman as pewerl ,se as the firs% could not sal ea to satisfy our dxliplaitit;; that in futu-e we unit have a mire express guarantee, to serve moreover as a reparation for the want of personal consideration, of welch the Emperor had to com plain, on the part of the Sultan. " It has b :ea pretended that, the arrangement terminated, we have su heels and afterw ar is advanced the demand of that g:II.C.VIt 30 as new preteasioa. The first notes pre seated by Prince WensehikoT establish bayou l a doubt that from the outset of his mission the two demands were made together and simultaneously. " When time shall have removed the veil of suspicions and preconceived ideas which tag often deuataralise the inten tions of Russia in all that concerns Turkey, it will be granted that the text of that guarantee contained nothing unyual, nothing alarming, for the safety of the Sultan. It was founded upon treaties by which the Turkish Government already pro mised us to protect our religion and churches in its states. An engagement to protect a religion and its churches, and a reserved right to alter at will the privileges and immunities which serve as a basis to its existence—are not those two contradictory things? And of what practical value could be an engage vent thus understood I In insisting upon the maintenance of the privileges assured to tha Greek warship by a secular possession (ah antig an), we do not demand any thing else than that which is implied by the treaty of Kai na.rdji itself, and by those confirming it, consequently no thing contrary to the independence of the Saltan if those treaties were not considered contrary to it. The only new advantages we demand for the Greeks are the more certain possession of those they already possess; and for ourselves in particular, no other rights than the One which has already belonged to us of exercising our active solicitude in their fa vour. By admitting that the Greeks had already enjoyed, an I would continue to enjoy, their religions privileges under the egide of their Sovereign the Sultan, we sulleiently estab lished its character. Thera was n Wain so vary exorbitant in all this. It was the only satisfaction which we demanded in return for the little want of consideration shown to Ui. tion he refused, she entered a territory he had not yet ceded, blockaded his ports, and drove out his troops from the citadel of Antwerp; when , finally, on a recent occasion, England in time of peace blockaded the Emus and seized Greek vessels as a peenniaiy pledge for some insignificant pecuniary claims —.all those measures, in a strict point of view, were cacaosbellti. The powers who did not take part in them, and dis approved of them, might have declared them such if they had not preferred following a conciliating line of policy. They did not do so then to avoid pitting Europe in a blaze. We think that on this occasion it would have been desirable for the peace of the world that England and France should have shown the same discretion. It is true that, at the first mo ment, they did not positively declare our occupation a cases belli. But they took good care to establish that the Porte had and would have, whenever she chose, the right of regard ing it as such, and of acting accordingly. If this was not pro voking war by an immediate declaration, it was holding it in suspense. 4 Although by the menacing position which they had taken at the mouth of the Dardanelles the two maritime powers had already constituted themselves judges and parties in the ques tion, and we consequently could not recognise them iu the character of mediators, nevertheless we did not refuse to ex amine the propositions they made to us. " This clearly proved that, in our idea, the occupation of the principalities was less the object of ambitions covetous ness than a means to negotiate. It would be easy for us to prove by convincing documents, that all the propositions made to us were based upon the idea that some satisfaction was due to us. The English Cabinet, in proposing to substi tute for the note rejected by the Ottoman Government a pro ject of convention (precisely the same form against which so many objections had been main at Constantinople), meant thereby to procure for us a more complete satisfaction. The French Cabinet, on its part, by proposing to us the project of a new note, presented it to us drawn up in a manner to contain in substance all the essential guarantees demanded by Prince Menschikoff, and to give us a title of intervention if the disposition of the Divan should undergo a change. In a word, it did not challenge either our right to express our solicitude for our co-religionists in Turkey, nor that of exer cising it actively ; precisely what the Porte has since denied us, and with it the Powers that had acknowledged it. " From the pourparlers which took place, and especially from the project presented by the Cabinet of the Tuileries, resulted the Vienna note. "The empressement with which we accepted it is known. "We might have—it is a right which the Porta itself has largely made use of—entered into a preliminary dispute on the terms, and replied to that proposition by counter-propo sitions, if, as slander declared, we had sought a .pretext to spin out negotiations, and indefinitely prolong the occupa tion of the Danubian provinces. We did no such thing, however. The project of Vienna, as soon as it was received, and though it was still liable, as was the case, to modifica tions at London and Paris, was accepted by us by telegraph. Why ? If •we ifere not animated frankly by pacific inten tions, we wished to terminate the crisis as promptly as pos sible, withdraw a moment sooner our troops from the princi palities, take advantage of the season which still permitted their retrograde march, and thus give to the two allied Cabi nets the means of withdrawing honourably from Besika Bay, Which in the autumn would be untenlble. All this might have been done; and for the second time the Powers had the opportunity of cutting off all ulterior eomp:ications, pro vided the Porte coal,' m ►k3 up its min 1 as promptly as we did to accept the compromise substituted for the project of Prince Meuse hiko ff. " What, then, was the duty of the Powers, if, as we doubt not, like us, they wished to accelerate a solution ? To insist a; Constantinople on a pure and simple adhesion ; not to allow the Porte to make new delays and modifications to their note. They were aware that we accepted it on that sole condition, such a 3 it was. " But by the very position they had taken at Besika, the two maritime courts had weakened their means of action upon the Porte. The Turks felt themselves supported and masters of the situation. By inebriating them with the pres tige of their independence, they had taken Europe at its word, and Europe in its tura had placed itself under the empire of bellicose influences which disputed the ground at Constanti nople with the ideas of peace. " The Porte objected to the terms of the note, and demanded modifications, which the foreign representatives allowed themselves to be persuaded to take ad referendum. " Instead of looking at this guarantee in its real light, its be iriug and consequences were imeneasnrably exaggerated. The arriarc p:311;13 of a political proctorate was gratuitously discovered in it, which existed only in the imagiaation, unless it WAS absolutely into al o I to give thet name to the inflaence which we have always exercised in Turkey in fa vour of our co-religionists. Without taking into account his anteeelents, the position of the Emperor, his duties to wards his people and his faith, the very exceptional nature of a Aussulinin Government, which the laws aol customs of Islamism male it difficult, if not impossible, for it to apply rigorously the principles of public right between Christian nations, the sovereignty of the Sultan has made an absolute theory, inflexible, and ou this pure abstractioa a decisiou has been given contrary to all engagements which the Sultan might take towards a foreign government on the subject of religion and churches. This was unlermining the foundations of the treaty of Kainariji, which contains precisely such an engagement. It WAS a desire to oblige us to tear, with our own hauls, all our anterior transactions, forcibly to abandon a whole order of things consecrated by the past and acquired at the peace of Russian blood. We at once saw that, if it came to au absolute determination to pat the question in those terms, a pacific solution would, sooner or later, become impossible. "We do not fear to say it; if it had been wished at once to cut short all serious complication, instead of listening to unjust suspicions, instead of seeing iu the last note proposed by Prince fef euschikoti - that which it did not contain, the men in credit at Constantinople should have used their exertions to mtk , ) the Sultan accept it. The dispute would have been settled, and Ear epe spared the ulterior consequences. Nay, more; after all the exaggerate) rumours engendered by the mission of our ambassador ; after all the concessions in form and substance, which he hal already ra Lie, having first re duced his demands from a convention to a coned, and then from a Belied twice modified to a simple note free from all bi laterel form ; it would have been easy to represent that note as a result much below our first pretensions. " But under the empire, if that ache .4t.f, that in his con duct towards Turkey Russia has uo ()bier aim than an in crease of i11q , 1911C3 I.lld of material power, that all her thoughts are directed towards the rain of that State, this form ala of the immunities and privileges, the maintenance of which she demanded for her warship, has been blown out beyond mea sure. It was nothing ta have obtained from us the reduction of our demands to their mast simple expression. It was ne cessary that they should be cancellel altogether, and a strik ing the ek given to our political consideration. It was clear that Russia could not submit to this, and the Imperial lega tion found it necessary to quit Constantinople. "A series of measures now commenced, which have not ceased to put in opposition our conciliatory dispositions with the care of our dignity ; measures, which taken prematurely necessitated others still more compromising, and which placed us first opposite the Powers on a double incline, at the foot of which a rencontre was finally to take peace. " These modifications, which an attempt was made at first to persuade us were insignificant, were so little so, that they completely annihilated the whole compromise elaborated at Vienna. They were inadmissible for us, as they deprived us precisely of all that we were founded to believe the powers had accorded to us, the right of expressing our solicitude for our co-religionists in Turkey, and of exercising it actively. We were obliged to reject them, and if frankness is a fault, we were frank enough loyally to explain the motive of our objections to the Austrian Government. "This new complication, but which was only due, as has just been seen, to the little inslstance which foreign diplomacy at Constantinople had shown for the acceptance pare and simple of the Note, aggravated the position which France and England had made for themselves and for us by placing them selves in Besiks, Bay. Thanks to the new difficulties engen dered by the Turkish amendments, a precious time has been lost between Constantinople and St. Petersburg, and the sea son hat arrived when the bay no leaser (Aural a safe an chorage. The fleets wanted a harbour. To seek one far away from the Dardanelles, anl to leave us metatime all th ) winter in the principalities was impossible for the courts. They could not, on the other han i, without a new and mere serious com plaint than those which already existed against us, order their fleets to enter the Dardanelles, which a declaration of war had not yet thrown open to them. To escape this dilemma, and make a brusque change of attitude, it was necessary to charge us with some wrong. It was found in the observations with which we accompanied the rejection of the amendments of the Porte—observations which in form and substance never had the factitious importance so carefully given to them. For, as regards the substance, they contained nothing that had not been already repeatedly developed in the documents of our correspondence, or that could suddenly give a sudden and expected light to the powers on our intentions. And, as regards the form, they bear no official character, and were not addressed directly to the two Cabinets. " This, Austria, the only intermediator in the negotiations of this affair, who had proposed the Vienna note to us, com municated the modifications made thereto by the Divan, re ceived iu exchange our acceptance of the note, our rejection of the amendments, as also the examination we made of it, and it is only indirectly in the way of informations and con fidential explanations that our ministers communicated it to the other courts. A culpable abuse of 'coafidence, the source of which is unknown to us, gave imm Kliately this examina tion to the daylight of a surreptitious public, dogged to opi nion, ignorant of antecedents, excited a new movement of effervescence against us, and drove the Govbrnmeuts into a more decided attitude. It was in vain that almost immali ately, at the interval at Olmutz, we offered t Austria, in the most conciliatory spirit, the desired explanations on the points of our examination which might a la rigueur admit soma am biguity. In vain also Austria, regarding them as satisfactory, made them the basis of a pressing measure to induce England. and France to ree.o.n.nend the Porte to accept the last ar rangement. The two powers refuse 1, declaring that the state of things at Constantinople admitted of no chance of success on that proposition. " In fact, on the fear, more or less founded, that the reli gious and warlike fanaticism of the Miasselmea might cad au ger the life and property of English aul Freoch subjects, the ambassadors of England and France had taken the resolution to make a division of the two squadrons enter the Dardanelles. This measure was contrary to the stipulations est tblishod by the treaty of the 13th July, 1841. The declaration of war of the Ottoman Government came almost immediately to legiti mise it, and bring the entire two fleets into the Sea of Mar more,. " It may be seen, from what has preceded, that the pre mature appearance of the two fleets at the mouth of the Dar danelles, first the determifiating cause of the final rejection of our ultimatum by the Porte, and of our entrance into the principalities, finished by-exercising a baneful. influence on the issue of the negotiations relative to the Vienna note ; that our examination of the changes which, deplorably, it had been allowed to the Porte to make to that note, did not really in itself offer suflleient new and serious motives to necessitate a measure such as the entrance into the Dardanelles; that, on the contrary, after our explanations at Oinratz, nothing would have prevented the two Courts from no ticia - ;, as Austria eagerly demanded, a new attempt at Constantinople, and that the veritable cause which induced them to make a sullen hostile front towards us WAS the material impossibilky for their fleets to winter in Besika Bay ; that, real or not, the dangers which English and French subjects incurred from Turkish fanaticism did not offer neither a sulleietit reason for the entrance of the whole fleets at Constantinople; that it was much rather the arrival of a portion only of those Anglo-French naval forces which exalted that fanaticisim, assured the triumph of the war party, and provoked the de claration of war—a declaration which, moreover, whatever were the efforts, more or less energetic, of the ambassadors to prevent it, had beeoun necessary to justify in strict right the call and prolonged sojourn of the entire fleets in the Sea of M trmora. "Thus, in this chain of inflexible necessities, because the fleets had been to Besika, it was necessary that they should go to Constantinople ; because they had been to Constanti nople it was necessary to declare war to us. We shall shortly see that the declaration of war led to other consequences, and that the same fatality which pushed on the fleets to the Bosphorus was to finish by pushing them into the Black Sea. _ " War being declared—which the two powers should have prevented at any price, if the accidental exactions of their maritime position and the warlike fanaticism it excited could have permitted them to do so—still they ought to have done everything to prevent war actually commencing, and if it did break out, at least help us in confining it within as narrow limits as possible. It was the only means of breaking the fall from the incline upon Which their new measure dragged them, and to prevent them going further than they had yet gone. We ourselves pointed it out to them. We did so as soon as we 1 amt the declaration of war, before we knew of their entrance into the Sea of Kamera. We had de clared spontaneously our intention to remain upon the defen sive as long as, we adde I—and account mast be taken of this reserve—as long as our interests and our diguity permitted it —as long as we should not be force 1 to oatstop. the circle within which we wished to confine our action. The Emperor then distinctly acid that he would not cross the line of the Danube—that he would repel au attack without provoking it - and that he should maintain that peAtion as long as he should not be necessarily compelled to assame another. The passage of the Danube by Omer Pacha, and even the defini tive entrance of Ihe whole of the fleets into the Sea of Mar more, had made to change in our pacific intentions. And that they really were so, that we never seriously wished for war, that we even refused to believe in it ti 1 the last Tenement —so unlikely did it smear to us that the powers would allow the Turks to wage it, so monstrous did it appear to us, out of all proportion with its cause, contrary to all Ottoman and Euro pean interests—is evidently well attested by the facility with which the Turks crossed the Danube, and invaded our terri tory in Asia. In despite of all the projects that have been gratuitously attrilanted to us —notwithstanding all the reports spread for more than a year, ever since Prince Monschikors mission to Constantinople, of an immense concentration of troops on our frontiers, of armaments, naval and military preparations undertaken by us on the largest scale, to march to the conquest of Constantinople—a was found that in Wal lachia we were only prepared for the defensive, and that in Asia, at first, our troops were not even sufficient for that. It is known that before the expedition of a body of 12,000 to 14,000 men along toe coast, a reinforcement which enabled us to carry the victories of Atskhour, Akhaltsykh, and Basch gadyk-Lar, the Turks had time to carry the post of St. Ni cholas, (without even waiting for the term fixed for the com mencement of hostilties,) to cross our frontier, to ravage the province of Armenia, and to threaten even the safety of Tiflis. " These events, and the pretended triumphs of the Turks on the Danube, so Ightly admitted, so inconsiderately exag gerated, led to two results ; one indirect, which we shall in dicate by and bye, the other more immediate. In allowing hostilities to take finch a development by land and sea, prin cipally in our Asiatb possessions, we were forcibly torn from a purely defensive s!stem which, under the preceding reserves, we had voluntarily traced out for ourselves. Our national honour, which the Freseuce of a double foreign squadron at the mouth of the Be3phoru.s had already sufficiently placed at stake, was becomin2 daily more jeop oNlised. Oar interests were more directly effected. Because in Wallaehia, Turkish territory, we had preposed to remain on the defensive at a time when operatioaa on the Danube only were spoken of, did it follow that abet on our own territory, on our coasts, we 470 re to al:ludo:1 patently the monopoly of agareseion to the " On shuple presumptions modified by exaggerated reports of the moment from the onset of the mission of Prince Men schikoff, without yet precisely knowin4 the nature of his de mands, Fr vice, seeing, as she said, in the attitude of Rassia, whatever was the pretext, a serious attack against the inde pendence of the Ottoman empire, took the initiative. She sent alone a squadron to the East, and only stopped at Sl lainis on account of the hesitation still shown by the English Government. " But on the first telegraphic announcement of the depar ture of our ambassador, without yet knowin; how we should act, three or four weeks before we announce' it at Paris or London ; and still, as an eve ita day tlepati ling upon the un certain reply of the Divan, e'rance and England united made a most serious naval demonstration. Tney seat their two sin% kens to occupy the Bay of Besika, at the mouth of the Da.rdaielles. " At the time objections were male to the character of comminatary pressure we attributed to this measure. It was calm ivoured to represent an armed an:l combined price de position of the two great maritime states of Europe in the waters and ports of Terkel a 3 the inorensive anchorage of vessels visiting friendly waters and poets open free to all navies. Events have proved what that inoffensive anchorage really in :ant. " The fleets entered Besika at the moment that the Porto still deliberated upon the last ultiinttu.n W 3 pat to it. It was natural it should refuse compliance, seeing itself tins sup ported by the material force of E oglan.l and France. Oa the one hand the appearance of the two spa Irons encouraged it in its resistance to us; on the other hand, it ()Tended and touched tenderly the dignity of the Imperial Government. Ef fecting the final rejection of the Mensehiko'S note, it came as an ag4ravating cause to determine our entrance into the prin cipalities. Was this measure to be considered a case of war, a flagrant violation of the equilibrium of Enrolee? We think that a pre lent policy not io complicate matters should avoid to pronoanee itself beforehand in so absolu: - 3 a sense. Cross ing the Pattie with regret, wits inconsiderable forces, we clearly denoted the character we wishel to give that purely temporary occupation. We lea Ely disavow any idea of per m moat con E t est. It was not ain 3,1511T0 of war, not even of a nature to imag shoat a e Misses, ao there were no Turkish troops in the territory occupied. It was only a measure of la:cc:silty, a means of ultwior negotiation, a pledge which would allow us with honour to lend ourselves to some now en gage:neat. The moasaro might affect oar local conventions with the Porte, but it did not att Lek any European treaties. Numerous preceleats, moreover, autho:ised the distinction between a simaie coercive Illea3'ire an 1 a veritable act of war. It wilt be rem rnherel that, despite the expedition to tho Mores, despite the battle of N a varino itself, Eallan I. an 1 France Inver cease]. to Sig that they . .very at petee with Tur key. We n 311101.31, srvely, far oehin l s tea acts in the way of coercion in those we a leptel. Wan Fe 1.133,. in the time of peace, forcibly seized Ancona—when, in concert with Eng - W 'aeon tho Litn,3* or the Nethorlazis tr3,3sac • THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 13, 1854. Turks—that we were to allow them to attack with impunity our niaritinie postS, blockade our fortresses, and attempt td I create a rising of the CatiCagtui against us ? Why did not foreign diplomacy at Constantinople ptraient these attacks ? Did they hope to see us beaten, or did they only; intend' to in-, terfere—when we had ceased to be se ? Was it in the mule de the independence of the Porte that a scruple was made to limit the operations by sea ? But to-day they limit them ; Wherefore, then, did they Wait until that which is deplored was accomplished without before remedying; it? Under the eyes of the ambassadors, under the flag of England tad of France, convoys of arms and ammunition are publicly pre pared with a view to carry on the War on our territory. A last convoy of this nature had reached its destination. We were aware, with the same object in view, a considerable Turkish squadron, convoying vessels of transport, was to leave Constantinople ; that it had left the Bosphorus ; that it had entered Sinopa—not to land reinforcements there, not to station there, but to find a temporary shelter against foul weather. It was there only awaiting the propitious moment to proceed on its aggressive voyage. We made use of the right of war by anticipating that aggression ; and to turn the word against us, to qualify as aggression what was only a legitimate act of defence, is not reconcileable with the notions of strict equity. " That if, moreover, it is objected that we were warned beforehand, that England had announced to us her intention of shielding against all attack the Ottoman ports and terri tory, we shall reply—That we never admitted that pretention of limiting our rights of war without making war to us, and that at London, as at St. Pet zsburg, by the Minister of Rus sia and the Imperial Cabinet its lf, those. rights have always been reserved and maintained in their integrity. " This is, however, what took place at Sinope, the forced consequence of their anterior attitude, which has served as a motive to the two powers to take another step in advance. By entering the Black Sea, with the avowed intention of pro hibiting the free navigation to Russian vessels of war, they have outstepped the limits of simple demonstrations; they make a direct attack upon our belligerent rights ; they have adopted a measure which, to speak plainly, is nothing less than a declaration of war under the mask of protestations of friendship, but which puts at stake again, more than ever, the national dignity of Russia ; a measure which takes hence forth the direction of events out of the hands of the Govern ments themselves, and places it in the hands of their naval commanders, making the peace of the world depend upon the smallest fortuitous conflict. " As regards the real motive of such a resolution, it is self evident, and the two maritime powers have not dissimilated it. It will be found in the position they created for themselves by sending their naval forces to Constantinople from the moment when, instead of employing them in keeping the war within certain limits, the presence of the combined fleets, by arous ing the fanaticism of the Porte, only served to neutralise the action of the two Cabinets. To assist as passive spectators at the destruction of the Turkish navy, almost under their eyes, placed them in a false position, but which, as nothing had been done to prevent the cause, ought not to have re mained entirely beyond their provisions, whatever may be said to the contrary. And, as at Basika, the necessity of get ting out of a dilemma, at any price, urged them to the violent act of crossing the first strait of Constantinople, that of escaping again from an attitude not less irksome obliged them to cross the second strait. " So truo is it that the progressive march of the measuns they had taken must necessarily lead them to aggravate their bearing, and that the first link of this chain of acts dangerous for the peace of the world was the moment when their fleets left Malta and Toulon. " On the ground of negotiations, same consequences from the starting point, same progression of overtures, always less satisfactory for us, at least less favourable for peace. The factitious and imaginary bearing which an incurable distrust has given to the engagement which we demanded of the Porte has caused the successive failure of every attempt at concilia tion which we proposed or accepted; first in the form then in the substance. " Nevertheless, as has been seen, up to the Vienna note, inclusively, the essential substance of the guarantees de manded by Prince Menschikoff were not yet absolutely dis puted us. It was admitted that the Emperor had a right to some satisfaction. It was allowed that he had the right to express the sympathies which identity of faith inspired him with for all the Christians of the Eastern confession. It was thought simple that the Porte should, by a solemn act of de ference, render homage to those sympathies and take them into consideration. The Vienna note always implied a direct step by the Sultan towards the Emperor, by the sending of an Ottoman ambassador, charged to remit the firma recently granted to the Patriarch of Constantinople, in confirm 'thin of the immunities and privileges of the Greek Church. Other dispositions date from the refusal of the Porte to accept the proposed note, or rather from the embarrassing • position which forced the two Governments to leave the Besika station for the shelter of the Dardanelles. They manifested them selves by the rejection of the last acco nraelatiou which we offered them at Olinutz. They then went so far as to deny the existence of the grievances of which we had to complain on the part of the Ottoman Government since the origin of the quarrel, and to contest our eight to dem ted. reparation. The war has exploded. The first operations of the Turks on the Danube, their sadden-invasion in Asia, transformed into brhlliant victories, have produced illusions. Opinion is much excited. lusteel of trying to cam it, it is regretable to have to sty that everything has been done, or allowed to be d•me, to excite it still m era against us ; and the Government the most susceptible, perhaps, in matters of national dignity, the most prompt to resent the abuses of the foreign press in the countries where it escapes the control of the authorities, has allowed the French press, of which it is the absolu e master, to publish all the false reports, all the insults, all the exag gerations against Russia. As public opinion warmed, its exactions grew in proportion; and, under their pressure, any satisfaction whatever is now refused to us ; the rights of sur veillance, which we possess for the efficacious protection of our co-religionists in Turkey are entirely denied to us. Russia is sent, so to say, to the bar of a European tribunal, and she is no longer called upon to cede half her demands, but all of them. The Sultan has been consulted beforehand upon the conditions that will suit him, and Russia is requeste 1 to ratify what has been convened without her, conditions admitted in the ex clusive point of view of the Sultan. Tiiat is to say, that now they turn against us the position which the Vienna note made for the Porte, with this essential difference, however, that the Porte was at liberty to raise objections, to propose alterations, whilst it appears we are not allowed to deviate from the bases put to us. M ireover, and putting aside the very nature of the arrangement, un ter what circumstances is it offered to us ? The overtures coincide within a few days with the entrance of the English and French fleets into the Black Sea, and with the notifications which are almost equi valent to a declaration of war. Of the four powers before which Russia is called to come and negotiate a peace with the Porte, two have already voluntarily renounced the part of impartial arbitrators, by outstepping the line of a strict neu trality, by constituting themselves armed auxiliaries of one of the adverse parties. Is not this placing Russia between war and humiliation; and could the hope be entertained that she would give in to menaces ? The position in which she is placed may have been imposed upon weak states, who then have not sabinitted until they had exit:meted all their means of resistance. But when peace is sincerely and se riously desired, we doubt whether it should be offere 1 on such terms to a great country justly jealous of its political consideration, and which has already shown that it will not spare any sacrifice when it is necessary to maintain it. " If now, in presence of this policy of intimidation, of these measures more and more grave, we oonsider, in briefly resuming them, all the acts of Russia, We shall see that in spite of the offences for which reparation has not yet been given to her, her conduct has only been a succession of sacri fices, proving her sincere desire to spare Europe a general conflagration, and at least to render strictly local the war to which she has been forcibly driven (la guerre a la7uelle 071 l'a poussee forcentent). And first of all, let us pass under silence the three concessions both on the merits, and in form, which reduced her first demands set forth in the Menschikolf note. The refusal of this ultimatum, accom panied by a menacing demonstration, having placed our honour at stake, we were obliged to have recourse to the employment of a measure of constraint. But this measure, taken with regret, and from which we to ek care to remove in advance any hostile character and intentions, WAS almost immediately pat forward by us as a reason for the resumption of negotiations. We hue I our ultimatum to accept the note of Vienna ; we accepted it by telegraph before knowing the precise text of it. This text was melifled at Paris and London. Nevertheless we made no objection, because we ware anxious to put an end to the crisis which kept the world in suspense. But the Western Powers unfortunately permitted the Porte to make other and graver mediae diens, which entirely changed the character of the arrangement which. WAS proposed to us. We were obliged to pronounce against them, and we frankly stated why. Verbal difficulties arose. Tau. were net insarmeunttble, since Austria and Prussia, satisfied with the solution of them which We offered, strongly recommended the two courts to employ these now facilities for the resumption of negotiations. A. precipitate measure had already broken the thread of conci liatory expleaetians. And sullenly, without any new com plaints that could ba urge I against us, an abrupt change took place in the attitude of the two Powers ; the whole of the two fleets were summoned Constantinople ; the Porte made a declaration of war, and hostilities were commenced. Obliged to continue the war, in spite of our wishes, we endeavoured to restrict it to the left bank of the Danube, and we recom mended to the Powers the importance of seeing that the thea tre of it should not be unnecessarily extended. The small number of our troops scarcely sufficed for the defensive, prov ing clearly the inanity of the schemes of aggrandisement as cribed to us. No attention was paid to our remonstrances. The war was allowed to spread into Asia. Illusions were indulged in as to its chances of success; and our enemies were encouraged and excited. And it was not until after • having been attacked at sea, on our coasts, on our terri tory, that we were at last obliged to strike an energetic blow. Victory on land and sea having established the supe riority of our arms, afforded an opportunity for taking advantage of our successes t e represent to us that we should be more disposed to enter irate an honour _able arraulemont, and for persuading the Turks to consent to it. This oppor tunity was neglected; those successes became new grievances against us, and the event of Sinop) served as a pretext for a violent resolution, which, leading to the suspension of diplo matic relations, rendered more than ever uncertain the chances of the in iintenence of peace. However, even at the last moment, the m aintenanee of these relations would still have been possible, so much did we desire to carry the spirit of conciliation to the eel, if, w hil s t protecting the territory and the fia; of our adv ersaries a g a inst a e a inst any attack, the two Powers had left to that measure however con trary it was to our rights as belligerents, th e co l our of a naval armistice, based on a certain reciprocity. Bat from the moment they pretended, whilst permitting. the Turks to send supplies to their ports, to prevent us from mediae su pplies to ours, and to maintain to our enemies the free navigation of the Black Sea, whilst it was rendered embarrassing for the Russian navy, the two powers openly established their active participation in the hostile operations of the Porte, and reserving the usage of our rights according to subsequent eventualities, it only remained to us to suspend diplomatic relations which tho two powers still endeavoured to envelop in amihel protestations, but which had henceforth become for us without frankness and without dignity. Such are the facts in their development. They prove that the question has arrived at its present pro portions, because tho Powers undertook from the commence ment, on account of the ambitious views which we are 17p posed to entertain, to combat a • hantom which did not exist; because the first stop which was taken in a system of intimi dation and distrust progressively lei to others which have rendered an honourable retreat more and more difficult for all parties. If sudden conflicts, which may arise at any moment from such a complicated state of things as the present, should cause war to break out between us and the Western Powers, and with that war all the misfortunes which will flow from it on the whole world, Europe is able to judge who, even at the moment at which we speak, has already taken the initiative of it." WAIL IN THE EAST.--The specie chests for the Com missariat stations, and those for the payment of troops upon the field of battle, have been ordered by the Ord nance from Messrs. Hobbs, Ashley, and Fortescue, who are proceeding rapidly towards their completion. These chests are of iron, doubled cased, and are fitted with the famed Americin locks. The same firm has just finighed a large number of iron door+ and safes fur the new Government Mint at Sydney, where their patei►t locks will be likewise applied as a protection against robbry. ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. The Earl of Ellesmere, president, in the chair. Mr. William Phelps, Mr. D. Robertson Blaine, and Mr. Henry Donkin were officially introduced upon their eledi or. Captain L. A. Shadwell, R.N., C. 8., Captain A. P. E. Wilmot, R.N. ' the Rev. John Kennedy, M.A., Mr. Norman Cowley, Mr. W. F. Gamut Farmer, M. Ben jamin Ifill, Mr. J., H. Johnston, and Mr. Alfred Rus sell Wallace, were elected fellows. The papers read were— "l. Successful exploration of the River Murray by Captain Cadell and Governor Sir H. Young in the Lady Augusta steamer, communicated through the Colonial-office." - Sir RODERICK MURCHISON observed that he had re• ceived a very interesting letter from Captain Cadell with reference to the further examination of the river anti its great tributaries. The original exploration of the Mur ray by Captain Sturt was also adverted to, in connection with the results of his labours in the settlement of South Australia and the great internal navigation now opened up. " 2. Observations on the proposed North Australian expedition, under Captain Stokes, R.N., by Captain Sturt." - - St. E lmund's, Clifton-terrace, Feb. 12, 1854. My dear Dr. Shaw,—l am so anxions to assist the council of the Geographical Society, if I may be per mitted to say so, either in the event of its being called on by the Duke of Newcastle for any further sugges tions as to the country to be explored by the contem plated expedition to Northern Australia, or in the event of the council taking the subject again under considera tion, .that I have taken up my pen, in the hope that I may lighten his labours, and perhaps throw some new light on the question. It is one that I may say I have unceasingly and carefully studied, with an earnest desire to arrive at just conclusions, but,, unfortunately for myself, I stand alone in this matter. The features of the interior, over which I have wandered, are so diffe rent from those of other explorers, and the deductions I have been led to arrive at are so contrary to the experience of other travellers, that I confess I set forth my views with diffidence and hesitation ; nevertheless I feel it to be my duty to promote by any means in my power the suc cess of an undertaking which, if conducted byjudgment and caution, will, in its successful issue, lead to the most important geoaraphical and commercial results. If I rightly understood r the views of the Royal Geographi cal SJciety, as regards the line of exploration it intended the expedition to take, if the direction of it bad still remained in the hands of the society, and which, I believe, the council did submit for the approval of the Duke of Newcastle. was, closely to examine the country between the Victoria and Albert rivers, and to descend at some favourable points to the southern interior, to ascertain, if possible, the northern limit of the great central desert. Vonsideriii:( the limited funds at the disposal of the Royal Geographical Society, no line of route could, in my humble opinion, have been more judiciously selected, embracing as it would have done that portion of the continent from an examination of which the most reasonable expectations of the dis covery of a fine country might have been encouraged. As, however, the conduct of the expedition is now in the hands of the Colonial Minister, and is to be carried out on a scale commensurate with its importance, it will embrace a wider field of exploration, and it is to a con sideration of the subject in this particular that I would very respectfully draw the attention of the Society. In my published account of my last central expedition, I explained as fully as I could the ground on which I based my conviction that the continent of Aus tralia had once been an archipelago of islands ; and that at that period there must have been a broad strait between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the great Australian bight. lam satisfied, indeed, that the whole country to the south, from the gulf which is now occu pied by the Darling and the. Murray, was then under water. The strait extending from the gulf of Carpentaria to the great Australian bight would have been in the shape of an 5, only inverted thus-5 ; and the sea bed of this strait now forms the great des, rt of the interior. If this is true, the northern limit of the desert will sweep the base of any high lands that may be to the north, until it trends west parallel to the west coast, and ter minates at the bight. Having said thus much on the probable character of the interior, I would draw the at tention of the council to three different points-1. The exploration of the southern interior; 2. Tee examention of Arnhem's Land; and, 3. The exploration of a line of route inside beicharit's track to warns Moreton Bay. As regards the first, it will be mine nbered that when approaching the centre of the continent on my last expe4tion, I crossed a stony plain, on which our horses left no track, and which was totally destitute of veget ttion • that from this plain I descended some two or three feet to an earthy plain, cut by numerous channels, but like the stony plain, extremely desti tute of vegetation. This last plain resembled the dried up bed of an immense muddy lake : so much, in deed, did the ground over which I trod resemble an approach to a vast valley of water, that I momentarily expected to see a mass of waters giittering away to the westward of me. Now this earthy plain was, as far as I could judge, the lowest part of the interior, as almost immediately after crossing it we got on the southern fall of waters, the fall having previously been to the north ; it must, therefore, be the receptacle of all the interior waters of the continent, excepting those at the south east angle. Now there can be no doubt but that both the stony and earthy plain are at times under water to the depth of 3 or 4 feet. and must present a breadth of from 30 to 40 miles. Now, the dip of the continent being to the westward, the question naturally arises, where or to what points do these waters flow ? Do they accumulate and form an inland sea, separated from the ocean by the great Australians wall ? or do they follow the principle of all the internal rivers of the continent, an I spreading over still greater areas are they lost by the joint effects of evaporation and absorption ? This, I do not hesitate to say, is tile greatest remaining geographical problem of the day, the solution of which weal" renloun 1 as much to the credit of the noble head of the Colonial Department and to the country as to the in lividual who solved it. I think it more than prole able that on the southern dice cf the heights in which the Victoria has it s basin, a stream might be discovered that would lead the party right into tile desert. The determination of this question would open out or close for ever the hope of inland communication between Western Australia and Southern Australia, or between the former and the south coast. It is true that the whole of the west coast is barren and forbidding, but the features of the country in Australia changes so rapidly that there is no knowing what kind of region exists behind. It may be a sea or it may be a desert, it may be bad or it may be good land. How can we tell but that an alluvial and luxuriant region has been thrown up by gradual earthy depositions of the great central stream? At all events, a descent to the south from the head of the Victoria would strike the de sert sufficiently to - the westward of where I was to justify a hope of a change of feature. 2dly. As regards the tract of country between the Victoria and the Albert, when I was on the Darling, in 1823, I observed vast flights of birds migrating from the colony of New South Wales to the north-west. In South Australia I ob served the same kind of birds migrating about due north, perhaps somewhat to the westward of that point— now, these birds occupy the richest valleys in the respective colonies they visit, frequenting indeed in New South Wales valleys in which gold has since been discovered. I inferred that at the point at which the two points would meet would be country similar to that they were known to resort to ire the located districts, for we may draw fair and reasonable conclusions from the regu lar migration of the feathered tribes. I conclude, there fore, that about 3 or 4 degrees north of the tropic— say in 20 deg., and in long. 136 deg. ; a fine country would be found, and I still think so, although I failed in gaining that point. It would, however, be some what to the south of the line of exploration from the Victoria to the Albert ; but as the whole of Arnhem's Land would have to be well examined, it would no doubt fall under the notice of the explorer, and if a descent could be made from it to the south-east, a line of com munication much nearer than any known would be established between the east and north coast to the Victoria. I speak of this as independent of the survey of the Albert, and I cannot but think it would ere long prove of vast commercial advantage. It would, how ever, be impossible to carry on such a survey without the co-operation of a surveying vessel. It is considered of real importance to prosecute this undertaking, the combined surveys by sea and land are indispensably necessary ; and I would fain believe that Sir F. Beau fort, the able head of the Hydrographical Department of the Admiralty, would see that there is ample work to be done on the N. and W. coast of the continent, and whose heart and soul are in progress of maritime dis covery as mine is in inland—would give his cordial ap proval to such an arrangement. I ail afraid, however, that I am trespassing too long on the patience of the council, ;Ind have only to appre hend that I have been obscure in my remarks, hurriedly as they have been made ; but I hope the Rug of Elles mere will impute it to my interest in the subject, and excuie an intrusion, for which I should not otherwise have any apology.—Believe me to remain, my dear Dr. Sh a w, yours very truly and faithfully CHARLES STURT. " 3. Remarks on the Exploration of North Australia, by Capt. Stokes, R.N." The PRESIDENT announced the publication of the general index to the second ten volumes of the journal, and likewise of the twenty-third volume of the society's transactions, and congratulated the society upon the in creased size and value of this volume, and observed that, having read it very attentively, he was happy to say that it was perhaps the most valuable journal that had been published by the society, containing as it does eleven maps, with other illustrations. His lordship finally mentioned that he had recommended, by the direction of the council, to the Duke of Newcastle the appoint ment, besides Captain Stokes, of Captain Sturt, Dr. Thomas Thomson, anti Mr. Thomas Baines, to accom pany the proposed North Australian expedition ; and also expressed a hope that Mr. Wilson might be em ployed as one of the party in the capacity of a geologist and mineralogist. NAVAL COMFORTS.—The health and requirements of the troops destined for Russia have been especially cared for. Many necessaries, not to say luxuries, have been ordered, and the humblest in the regiments is des tined to share in comforts which would have surprised the commanders of byegone campaigns. Even the afire. nuns of a sea voya g e received attention at the hands of the authorities, who have give l directions amongst others to provile each man with sufficient marine soap (under Gibh's patent) to last the trip. In this respe c t the soldier is better off tha n the &allot-, who, we beli eve , with a bare exception or so, is still obliged to use a soap ; for his ablutions which la tot a l l y use l e ss in salt water. - SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. NOTICE TO MARINERS. DANISH LIGHTHOUSE. The Danish Government has given notice that the light-. ships for the Drogden (Drogue) Anholt Reef, and the Lessoe Channel, left for their respective stations on the 27th ult., and as soon as moored would show their lights. CUSTOM HOUSE, MARCH 11. ENTERED INWARDS.—The Adela, from Santander ; Elsiena Catharine. Zell ; Anemone, Oporto Planet, ' Whampoa ; Von Catharine, Philadelphia; Archimedes, Cha rente ; Mat, ; Nineut, Cadiz ; Marian Zagury, St. Michael's ; W. Prowse, Canton; Novo Viagante, De merara ; Sarah Maria, Leghorn ; Marianni, Mazarron ; Enchantress, Nantes ; Irene, Holbeck ; Staghound, Ter ceira ; Kate, do. ; Duchess of Lancaster, Manilla and St. Helena ; Castilian Maid, St. Michael's ; Volunteer, do. ; Secret, Palertno, Etc. ; Active, Santander ; Eole, Lisbon ; Sharp, Odessa; Admiral Peter Firdenskjold, Erachia ; Disraeli, Constantinople ; Pacific, Nassau, N.P. ; Mis sionary, Coloaibu ; Sarah Maria, ieghorn ; Win. Prowse, Canton. _ _ _ ENTERED OUTWARDS FOR LOADING.—The Dannobod, for Copenhagen ; Ivanhoe, Bombay ; Sulliff, Antwerp ; Rangoon, Montreal ; Juno, Antwerp ; Angartyr, Rio Ja nei.o ; Cleopatra, Oporto; City of Manchester, Geelong. CLEARED OUTWARDS WITH CARGO.— The Walter Hood, for Sydney ; Sigi•bert, Port Philip ; Rodrigo (second clear ance) ; Adelia Maria, Koni g sberg; Queen of the Tyne, Atio Janeiro ; Amadora, Cuba; Centaur, Marseilles; Cho roringhee, Port "Philip ; City of Manchester, Geelong; Kangaroo, Amsterdam. LIVERPOOL, MARCH 11. The Pantheon, ashore at .Rhosnagir, near Holyhead, lies with her broadside to the bank, inside a reef, with part of her keel and de&d-wood out, and tills with the tide. If the weather continues moderate, the cargo may be saved, but the ship, it is feared, will become a total wreck. The Ensign, for Africa, has put back. The crew of the Alabama, from New Orleans, have been sent to prison for refusing to do duty when four days out. The Hermes, from Q:►pa de Vents to Bue nos Ayres, is lost on the English bank, River Plate. VESSELS SPOKEN WITH. The Eweretta ' from Loudon to Port Jac kwon, N.S.W., Dec. 13, lat. 10S., long. 20 W. The Ade, of San lerland, steering S , March 1, lat. 40, long. 15. ' The Lord Haddon, lat. 47 N., long. 13 W. The Jean B irt, from Martinique to Marseilles, Feb. 23, lat. 35, long. 35. The Duchess of Lancaster, from Manilla to London, 23 h, lat. 41, long. 28. The Bloomer (ship) and Elizabeth (ship), from Callao, Dec. 2), off Cape Horn. The Ch. Ace (brig), of Sunderland, from Havannah, March 4, lat. 4/ N., long. 12 W. The Persian (ship), for Charlestown, March 6, lat. 49 N., long. 11 W. The Scott (barque), from Mauritius to Landon, Jan. 6, lat. i3l. S., loug. 4; B. The Ako3r (ship), Jan. It, lat. 31 S., long. 25 E. The Linda (Swedish b arque), from Bat avia to Cowes, Jan. 23, Lit, 15 S., long. 7. The K.inilworth (ship), from Mauritius to Lo radon, Feb. 2, lat. 10 S., long. 12 W. The Seindian (ship), outward bound, Feb. 10, lat. 3 N., long. 21 W. The Berhampore (ship), from Manilla to London, 14, lat. 5 N., long. 23 W. The Chandeuagore, March 6, lat. 49 N., lo ng. 10 W. COUNTRY MARKETS. HADDINGTON—Hexes 10. The supplies of all kinds of grain was smaller than in last market. Sales dull. Wheat, top 2s down. Oats on the top 4s down. Barley on the top 2s down. Beans on the top is down. • The fallowing are the prices of grain at our market to-day : WHEAT. BARLEY. I OATS. HEW. First B6s Od 48s Od 4:s Od fOs Od Second -. 77s 41 1 42s 10d I 35s 3d 51s 7d Third 6os Od I 35s Od I 29s 6d 45s Od Total quantity of wheat in market, 389 qrs., 336 sold PP PP PP barley 235 qrs., 222 sold PP PP PP oats 537 qrs., 434 sold PP PP PP beans 159 qrs., 142 sold Average of whoat £3 17 4 9-12ths Ditto of Barley Ditto of O.tts Ditto of Beans . ...... .......... DALKEITH GRAIN MARKET-MAR CH 10. Wheat on the top GS ap, current price 2s 6.1 up, and the lowmt 54 u,) °lts on th..i top Ls it L up, current price 2s 0,1 up, sad the lowest 5s Id up. Barley on the top 2s 01 up, current pricer 23 Od up, and the lowest 5s up. Peas and beans on the to is up, current price Is up, and low est 2s down. Qrs. Best. - Current. 231 Wheat 9ls O 1 767 Oats 33s Oct .. 32s Od 375 Barley 4ss Od 37s Od ..... 138 Peas & beaus 54s Od sos Od Average of wheat, 3/. 12s 9id. Inf erior 56s Ocl 21s 41 33s Od 46s 01 ABERDEEN-MARCH 10. The prices of grain are—Old oats, 27s 6d to 28s 61 401bs per bushel; new oats, OOs Od to OOs Od, 401bs pet bushel ; here, 36s 6d to 37s id, 531bs per bushel ; barley, 33s 0d to 363 61, 531bs per bushel • wheat, red, 60s Od to Orl, 62103 per bushel ; wheat, white, 72s Od to 76s Od, 621bs per bushy ; oatmeal, 23s 0,1 te 216 Od per boll; flour, 604 01 ti 623 Oil per sack. Provisions—Beef, per lb, 6,1 to 81; mutton, .litto, 61 t ) _d ; veal, ditto, 6d to 8d; pork, per lb, Os 541 to Os 71 ; sal anon, per lb, Os Od to Os Ocl; rabbits, each, Oil to Od ; tallow, per stone, 5s 9d to Os Od ; potatoes, per pock, 12d to 03 Oil buttor, per lb, 10d to is ; eggs, per dos, 03 61 to Os 8 t , hens, per pair, 3s Cd to 3s 61; chickens, ditto, 2s 01 t o 2s lid; ducks, ditto, 2s 61 to 33 0 ; ducklings, ditto, 2s Cid to Os Od ; turkeys, each, 43 0 I to 53 Od ; geese, nitto, 3s Oil to 4s 0,1; butter for I:moor:alma (pre,ont, care), per cwt, 80s to 84s 0,1; ditto ksumoirr wired), J 33 to 03s Oil ; eggs, wholesale price, per dozen, 51,1 to 01 ; tit, loaf, 81; 2lb loaf, 4d ; pork, line small, 03 Od to .( UPI ; pork, large, Os Od to Os Od ; lamb, por lb., 53 61 to Od; cheese, per imperial stone, 5s 6d to 73. • DIIBLIN—MARca 10. An extremely heavy and depressed market at our corn exahange to-.lay. fa) only :wtu►l altarati in we note in grain is in oats, which ware :3l to 31 cluaper th an on Tues day. Caotations br other artiolas sstrcaly more than nominal, and lower rates %%rani l have been taken if busi ness could have been done. White wheat, 44s 01 to 46s Od ; red ditto, 41s to 44: Od ; barley, 178 6d to 22s tid ; oats, 14s Od to 16s 6d ; rapeseed, 00s Od to 00s Od per brl ; crthneal, 16s 0(1 to 17s Od ; bakers' flour, 24s Od to 28s Od per cwt ; ludiau corn, 47s Od to 51s Od per 4801bs. RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS. MANCHESTER, Mem= 11. STOCK EXCITA.NGE.—There was a little depression at the opaning of the market, but prices recovered yesterday's position at the'clo s e. Th e sa l es were : —C a l e d on i an , 27k ; Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, 244 ; Midland Railway Consols, ; Lancashire and Yorkshire, 66t; Manchester, SheffiJkl, and Lincolnshire 101. Preference, 9. BIRMINGHAM, MARCH 11. STOCK EXCiIANGE —The r;tilw Ly share market con tinues extratue y inactive, and little businesi transacted. No sales were effected on 'Ch mg° to-day. Tha following were am ug the closing quotations :—Birmingham, Wol verhampton, and Stonr Valley, sellers, 9 ; Eastern Coun ties, buyers, 12i ; London and North-Western, sellers, 102 ; ditto eighths, buyers, ; sellers, its. 3d. dis ; Man chester, Shefflel.l, anti Lincolnshire, buyers, 214; sellers, 22; North Staffordshire, 54 die. LEEDS —MARCH 11. STOCK EXCHANGE. —The share-market has been very quiet to-day. The prices realized were lower than those of yesterday. They were—Great Northern, A stock, ex div. 10; L tncasbire and Yorkshire, 66 ; Midland, ex div., 601 ; York, Newcastle, and Berwick, ex div., 16j. STATE OF TRADE. (From the Manchester Guardian of Saturday.) MANCHESTER, March 10,1.--The American ad vices received this week state that the decline in cotton had been stopped, indeed that prices were rather inclining upward. At New Orleans, the rate of freight had risen to 11-16 d. to id. per lb ; and the exchange was as low as 6to 6i. We have to report a further depression in it he Manchester market. Some degree of distrust is awakened by the failures that have occurred ; and, now that war is actually at hand. the wisdom of operating with extreme caution, and thus restricting liabilities within narrow limits appears to be strongly felt. The home trade houses are inure timid and backward than the shippers. They experience a great falling off in the demand for goods ; and the bad debts they are incurring render them increasingly wary in executing► orders. Cloths for this branch of our trade have suffered more than others ; showing now, in fabrics for bleaching and printing, a considerable fall from the highest prices of some time ago. The India department of our mar ket is the best; the lower qualities of shirtings, niada pullams and jacconets being so well engaged that they yield but little, while 40's, 50's, and 60's mule yarns are saleable at full rates. In reeled water twist there is a slight further bias this week against producers. Warps and pincops show the same tendency. BRADFORD, March 9.—The dulness so long com plained of still prevails, and spinners are unwilling buyers. Yarn—Everything is as dull and discouraging as possible ; the shippers are doing scarcely anything, and the home trade in spools shows no signs of amendment. Pieces. —There is no feature for the better to report, but the time is drawing near when activity for the approach ing season usually prevails. BIRTHS. OF A SON. On the 9th inst., the wife of the Rev. W. L. Mason, Bury St. Edmund's. OF A DAUGHTER. On the Bth inst., the wife of John Markham Carter, Eig., Alresford, Hants. MARRIED. On the 11th inst., at Christ Church, St. Marylebone, John D'Urban, Esq., of Bedford-row, Gordon square, to Maria Charlotte, daughter of T. S. Cooper, Esq , of Dor set-square, A.R A. DIED. On the 11th inst., Mr. C. T. Radkin, of the Salutation, 17, Newgaie-street, aged 57. On the 11th inst., at St. John's•wood, S. C. Henry, youngest son of the late Rev. J. S. Ogle, of Kirkley-hall, in the county of Northumberland, aged 42. L , NDON: Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of No. 112. strand, Printer, at he sun 0180 e, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county of Miidleeex, lioadaY, Uarob 13,1854. Po] will take 1854. w - LIFE AE friars, LI others, a Voyag,r.g Till Every i Assurano t remi,, One-ha to pol , cyl Annuities enaolkme Po idle: No eh: 'Money Active agricultw Apply respeetab MO BORROV the pone raised by nua.ly. requested Interest a mbraionei Or before 11 0 Correc tin General re i4nati( that the take pit the ~ ,F ; nience a intend t TLIIIV a of charac the 30th for Accou on Frid .y The Ca the age informat March, 1 HA nan tett Ir Flour, MI and Baco requested past Vey tendance Blank I and tip. 11 atthe The Co any of th Dated 1 Session E LE he El their wor tion, to S which, fr cannot to made by reds, yel price and all comm Prosser, I Local by letter, pui _ against MULLIIS ford row, square, Douse-• - a: Partmton the plead of Decem fourth d or claims at No. 1 they will Decree. Friday said Cha claims. Dated Furthe to Mr E plaintiff, fling, of Mullins, • when dui Tin and halt the 4th such per. Dockyar Med vet and to 14 pauses), Tender or A dish Office. of treat} agent foi Every and bear and m List signed the perst since of t A. rill R- Pharma, The 1, while it to embit appoints of a mos space of these Di ing at Lb of taste toilet tal ON TH cl Illustra New Ei TE etxcessi , rnercur: lowed t prevent PERRI street, 1 row, an don, 14 , Bow Et Ptal organs, P AZ; dulgenc mental Inc.apac Pia, the prii their tr ings. PAW simple The ci subject ON TT INF Just P _; S' Ifarrim origin climat, twent: Debilii Urine ings, o conditi Decto bur: 81;i1 BEI Prenc br o th n Zito