The Sun. — London, England, 1854-04-11 00:00:00

rro MEN COOKS. WANTED, a Single Man, as COOK, at the Scarboro' Hotel, Leeds. He must he well acquainted with Stove-cooking and the general routine of hotel business. One who requires teaching need not apply. Terms and reference as to character to be sent, by letter, to Mr. Fleischman, Scarboro' Hotel, Leeds. pHEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE. — Mr. E. T. SMITH, Lessee, bas the honour to announce that he has placed the above-named National Establishment at the ser vice of the FUND in AID of the FAMILIES of the EXPEDITION ARY ARMY. In pursuance of this desirable object, a FANCY FAIR will be held on the 13th and 14th of April, under the follow ng Royal and distinguished patronage:— Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Glocester Her Royal Highness the Princess Mary of Cambridge The Right Hon. the Lady Mayoress Her Grace the Duchess of Hamilton Her Grace the Duchess of Beaufort Her Grace the Duchess of Montrose Her Grate the Duchess of Inverness ller Grace the Duchess of Somerset Her Grace the Duchess of Richmond The Most Noble the Marchioness of Londonderry The Most Noble the Marchioness of Blandford Trie Most Noble the Marchioness of Aylesbury The Right Hon. the Countess of Chesterfield - The Right Hon. the Countess of Kinnonl The Right lion. the Countess of Glengall The Right Hon. the Countess of Lessborough The Right Hon. the Countess of Derby The Right Hon. the Countess of Shelburne The Right Hon. the Countess of Wilton The Right Hon. the Countess of Desart The Right Hon. the Countess of Donougbmore The Right lion. the Viscountess Palmerston The Right Hon. the Viscountess Maidstone The Right lion. the Viscountess Newport Lady Sophia Des-Vceux Lady Colville Lady Raglan The Hon. Miss Anson Mrs. Disraeli airs. d. Stanley. Every appointment and appearance of the Theatre will be called Into requisition on this hr,portant and interesting occasion; decora tions are preparing. The pit will be covered for promenade, and an efficient band provided for the execution of choice and new original music. Ladies desirous of aiding by their presence this benevolent demonstration arc respectfully reminded that they should make early application for stalls. A book is now open in the lobby of the grand entrance to receive contributions in the shape of articles intended for sale on the occasion. THEATRE MOYAL DRURY LANE. Lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith. Great Attraction for the Million.—SMlTH'S PROMENADE CONCERTS. Passion Week.—For TWO NIGHTS ONLY : TO-MORROW EVENING ; Wednesday, April 12 ; and Thursday, April 13.—An Assemblage of Vocal and Instrumental Talent Unrivalled. in a Temple Decorated for the Occasion. The Pit will be converted into a Grand Promenade, forming a vast Arana for the Visitors. Among a host of talent, the following eminent artistes will have the honour of ap pearing:—Vocalists—Miss Poole, Miss Susannah Lowe, Miss Rans ford, Miss Featherstone ; Mr. Elliot Galer, Mr. Ransford, and Mr. Henri Drayton. Instrumentalists —Messrs. Distill, the celebrated performers on the Sax Horns. Pianoforte—Herr Carl Wohlfson. Concertina—Mr. R. Blagrove. Flute—Mr. R. S. Pratton. Conduc tor of the Vocal Music—Mr. J. F. Duggan. The Orchestra will be most powerful and complete, consisting of 70 performers. Conductor of the Instrumental Music —Mr. G. Hawa r d . Th e programme will comprise all the most popular selections of the day, vocal and instru mental, including th e successful opera of Leonie. Pit promenade and upper boxes, I L ; d ress boxes, 2s. 6d.. private boxes, it. 8.1 s 158., and 10s. Do ors w i ll open at half-past 7, and commence a THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET. Under the management of Mr. Buckstone. This week being Passion Week. the Theatre will be Closed, and will Re-open 011 Easter Monday, April 17, with a Comedy. After which, an entirely new and original extravaganza, entitled Mr. BIICKSTONE'S VOYAGE ROUND THE , GLOBE (IN LEICES TER-SQUARE), written by J. R. Planche, Esq., Author of Mr. Puckstone's Ascent of Mount Pstrnasans, and which will be produced with entirely new scenery, machinery, dresses, and appointments. Principal characters by Mr. Bucks:tone, Mr. W. Farren, Mr. Clark, Mr. J. Marshall, Mr. H. Marshall : Mrs. Fltzwilliam, Mrs. Caulfield, Miss E. Grey, Miss Lydia Thompson, Miss Laura Morris, and Miss Featherstone, who is re-engaged at this theatre. With other En tertainments, The box-office will be opened on Saturday next, the 15th inst. STRAND THEATRE. Sole Lessee Mr. F. W. All eroft.—Directreas, Miss Rebecca Isaacs, THIS EVENING, APRIL 11, Mr. G. Hodson's Entertainment of PADDY'S PORTFOLIO. After which, Mons. Delavine and his two sons in their celebrated Drawing• Room Entertainment. To be followed by a 3fuslcal Melange, entitlel THE GIPSY HAUNT. To which will be added 3fons. Delavine on the Revolving Globe. To conclude with Mr. Cox's Dissolving Views. ASTLEY'S EUROPE'S NATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. William Cooke. The Public are respectfully Informed, that this popular establish ment will RE-OPEN on Easter Monday, April 17, with an entirely new Grand Nautical Equestrian Spectacle, written expressly by Mr. Nelson Lee. Various Novelties are in preparation for the Scenes of the Circle. Arrangements are pending for the appearance of emi nent Continental Equestrian Artistes. The Rom-office will be opened on Thursday, the 13th instant, from Eleven till Four. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tail DAY —Morning 46 min.after 12 Evoning 7 min.aft. 1 To.Mortztow—Morning 25 min.after 1 Evening 43 min.aft. 1 THE WEATHER.—SuN OFFICB , APRIL 11. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 55 —highest since noon yesterday. 40—lowest this morning and during the night. 58—this day at noon. BAROMETER, 30'19, WIND, N.E. to S.E.—Light breeze, and fine, sunshiny weather. . . e ; 1- 5 9 § S,TI, ~~' ~,y., ~~!. F' - A(y LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 1854. RECAL OF THE PRUSSIAN MINISTER FROM LONDON. BERLIN, Monday.---The Russian party has tri umphed, and Chevalier Bunsen, Prussian Minister in England, has been recalled. Nothing but decisive and successful action on the part of the Allies will ever change the vacillat ing policy of the King. Notwithstanding all that has been heard within the last few days about the Protocol between Austria and Prussia, and about the Four Powers having at last come to a satisfactory agreement, there are still formidable doubts as to whether the Cabinets of Berlin and Vienna may not, after all, prove traitors to the cause of Christendom. There is no question whatever that the King of Prussia is rendered in a manner subservient to the wishes of the CZAR, if by nothing else, by the stress of the ties of relationship. Neither can there be any uncertainty that the Emperor of Austria was all but formally pledged to a com pliance with the designs of the Russian AUTOCRAT upon Turkey prior to the advance of the troops of the latter across the Pruth into the Principali ties. As regards FREDERICK WILLIAM, the fact is visible enough on a merely cursory glance at the august records of the Al manach de Gotha. As regards FRANCIS JOSEPH, the truth of our remark is sufficiently apparent from the revelations of the supplemen tary Blue Book containing the " Secret and Con fidential Correspondence." Insomuch is the con sequent uncertainty as to the good faith of the German Governments understood to be reason able under existing circumstances, that even those who had hitherto been most credulous in antici pating an honest policy from the Ministries of Duo'. and MAN'rEurFEL are at length beginning to look askance and with eyes of undisguisedly jealous suspicion, in the direction of the Courts of Charlottenburg an d of Schoenbrunn. No wonder ! No wonder, we say, that France and England should hesitate to believ e in the loyalty of the Austrian and Prussian Goverrrments— after all that hi s t ory relates of their duplicity and faithlessness. Austria especially :has long shown herself the most traitorous of Allies, and perhaps no country was ever ruled elver by a more vacillating prince than Prussia wider her present Sovereign. Rememberi ng the past, a n d looking to the period immediately befor e US, we cannoti marvel that even the most complaisant of the Ministerial organs, even the journal most obseq u i ous i n eulogising the weak and hesit a ti ng - Policy of Lord ABERDEEN, should at length, i n strivin g t o an ti c i pa t e the future of the tremendous struggle up on w hi c h the Western Powers are a dventuring —it is not surprising we say, that, under these circumstances, even the Times should at last begin to express a doubt as to the good faith of the Austrian and Prussian Governments. It is, however, from the very fact of this un certainty as to the course likely to be pursued by the councils at Berlin or Vienna, either in oppe: sition to, or in accordance with, those more obvious councils at St. Petersburg, that we would more than ever insist, with all ima ginable earnestness, upon the necessity o f energy and promptitude in carrying out the Angl , a-French expedition. Surely, surely we have had: enough and to spare of these complimentary dim aers and feastings in the way of farewell, Mfg° is no leisure now for dawdling over adieus or for telling the world, while we are doing so, of all that is going to be effected by flood and by field in the shape of heroic achievements. Having drawn the sword let us strike the blow and have done with it. HEAVEN knows the sooner we have done with it the better. Certainly it must he allowed to derogate somewhat from the glory of France and England to have all this vapouring, and loud talk ing, and fanfaronading. During all which the sol diers of the SULTAN are fighting like men, on their own ravaged soil, against the vast numerical supe riority of the Russian forces under Prince GORTS CHAKOFF ! All the while we have been amusing ourselves with banquets and reviews, and every variety of military and maritime self-glorification, our gallant allies on the banks of the Danube have been contesting the ground, foot by foot, against their barbarian assailants—the jingle of champagne glasses, and the voice of the toast master amongst ourselves, drowned by the rever beration from Turkey of that heroic music sung by LONGFELLOW— " The bursting shell, the gateway wrenched asunder, The rattling musketry, the clashing blade, And ever and anon, in tones of thunder, The diapason of the cannonade." Club-banquets in St. James's, or in Piccadilly, have been despatched at the point of the knife and fork, while the Turks at the point of the bayonet have been withstanding the Muscovite foe on the hard " foughten fields" of Citate and Dobrudscha. Is this well ? Is it creditable to our Government? The reason for it all we can readily comprehend— namely, a last, desperate, lingering, almost de spairing hope that the CZAR might yield, and that di p l omac y might be enabled at length to bring about a tardy pacification. The circumstance of Lord ABERDEEN being at the head of the Cabinet accounts indeed for this lamentable and deplorable, and, we had almost said, disgraceful procrastina tion. The end of all which is, that the April of 1854 has arrived and is rapidly passing by, and has already brought with it such gratifying morsels of information as the account of the Czar having ordered the baggage of Sir HAMILTON SEYMOITR to be detained at St. Petersburg, and of British merchant ships having been molested at the mouth of the Danube by the war vessels of the Muscovite ! Not a shot meanwhile having yet been fired at the Russian ports or men-of-war by either of the combined fleets—and only a mere handful, comparatively speaking, of the French soldiery having landed at Gallipoli, as far as we can learn up to this moment by authentic intel- igence. At any rate it is gratifying to know, at last, that Lord RAGLAN, the Commander-in-Chief of the English Forces, accompanied by H. R. H. the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, took his departure yesterday, to proceed viti Paris en route for the neighbourhood of Constantinople. Even in this movement our gallant allies across the Channel have been before us, as they have been, in fact, in almost every successive step of these proceed ings. The Commander-in-Chief of the French forces in the East, Marshal ST. ARNAUD, accompanied by H. I. H. the Prince NAPOLEON, had already left the shores of France to hasten with all con venient speed to the seat of war along the borders of Turkey. Whatever festivities have yet to take place before the last of the chiefs of this Anglo- French expedition can hurry after Marshal ST. ARNAUD in the same direction, It is earnestly to be hoped will be gone through with all the despatch that may be practicable under the circumstances. The necessity of the crisis is the necessity for action—for action bold, prompt, and energetic. Enough of reviews, enough of banquets, enough of compliments. Yea, we repeat—enough and to spare. The alternative before the armaments of the Allied Powers of Western Europe is the alter native placed by the peasant bard on the lips of BRUCE—to "do or die." And GOD knows the cause for which war has been declared against Russia by France and England is a cause worthy of the swords of brave men, of the heroic sons of heroic sires—the cause of truth, of justice, of humanity, of civilisation. The illustrious "JOB JONSON," alias "FREDE RICK DE COURCY," could not display greater con tempt and indignation at the larceny of the five lumps of sugar, by " a gentleman of most noble air," than the organ of the Coalition is exhibiting at the bare-faced plunder by the AUTOCRAT of the goods and chattels of au individual, and that individual, too, an Ambassador, clothed with a sacred trust and covered with a protection which even the greatest barbarians have hitherto re spected. So long as the robbery and murder was on a grand scale—so long as he dealt with whole provinces, and thousands of human beings—hisacts were, if not laudable, at least venial. His " appre hension as to the dissolution of the Turkish Empire" might appear to be " perfectly well-founded," and his advisers and friends, like the "dear and excel lent" Premier, could discover in his elaborate pre parations for appropriating the large proportion of the assets of " the sick man," to whom he was about to administer the coup de grace, nothing but what was wise ! what was moderate ! what was judicious ! There could be no theft in grati fying his very natural longing for the dominions lying in such tempting proximity—" Steal ! foh ; a fico for the phrase ! convey, the wise it call !" Not merely was it fitting that he should annex the Danubian Principalities, but the whole of Turkey in Europe, occupying Constantinople and the entrance to the Euxine. There would be nothing in such conduct un becoming an " Imperial Gentleman," By narrow-minded men it might be supposed to exhibit too great a degree of acquisitiveness. But " young ravens must have food ! "—and au A UTOC'RAT should surely be bound by no ties but of convenience. He should be allowed "to follow his own vagary " in any way he thought proper, so long as he flew at high game, and did not con descend to private spoliation. But NICHOLAS appears to have no consideration for his friends and admirers. He cares not how grievously they may be brought to shame, and compelled "to eat dirt " (to use the expressive Eastern phrase) for his misconduct. He has now, it appears, appropriated the palace of Sir G. HAMILTON SEY3IOUR, with all its contents, imme diately after pledging his honour as a gentleman, that " private property should be respected." The paltry act of which he has been guilty, however, shows the amount of credit to which he is entitled, and furnishes an instructive commen tary on the text "Put not your faith in Princes." Those who, trusting to these promises, have suf fered their persons or property to remain subject to the capr i ces of the fa i thless d espot, an d t h e patriotic 0 ) individuals,relying who, on i probably similar protestations, invested in Russianßond s the capital which th ey had withdrawn from the t t, foundation English deceived hon funds,ythe specious w w h i i l e l h uow see the rottenness of the they appearancehavbeen r o o f s t ing ha affairs, t,liey have literally been slumbering at the edge of a volcano. The latter class, and, ' indeed, any penions capable of helping themselves, we do not pity. They will richly merit a ll th e losses they may sustain. But those who were compelled ex neces sitate to throw themselves on his mer c y, w il l, too late, discover the difference between a des potic and a constitutional Government, where the voice of public opinion has some influence. In the fornaor they see the Palace of an Ambassa dor s,Hzed, mud the law of nations violated. In the latter, no less than six weeks' time allowed to the merchant vessels of the enemy to complete their cargoes and sail (with protection) for any and tion Rus, siau port. " Look here upon this picture and on that," and say whether the principles of despotism and of freedom are not, indeed, in every respect, " wide as the poles asunder ?" When opposing the extreme Liberals in the Reform Bill debates, Lord JOHN RUSSELL endea voured to neutralise the appeal to American prac tice, by the remark that it is " of its Senate, not of its House of Representatives, that America is proud." This Senate, however, has just done a deed, by a majority of more than two to one, which will make all the better part of America blush at the very mention of its name. While all England, and almost all Europe too, is absorbed with the CZAR and his wanton aggressions on Turkey, the Senate of the United States has been engaged in perpetrating a territorial aggression, in some respects worse than the CZAR'S. Our readers have doubtless been too much interested in the unknown names they have become acquainted with on the Danube, to pay much attention to names equally unknown in American correspondence ; they may, however, have won dered what the Nebrasca, Bill can bo. We will tell them. Nebrasca is a vast territory, many times larger, it is said, than the New England States, lying between the settled part of America and Cali fornia, and bordering, on the north, on British America. The territory itself has been filched from the Indians after a solemn contract guaran teeing them its possession ; but, of course, abori gines everywhere are of no account when civilised men need their land. This extensive district lies north of the parallel 30 deg. 30 sec., from which slavery is excluded by what is called the Missouri Compromise ; and the Nebrasca Bill is nothing less than a bill to legalise slavery throughout the whole territory, and thus, as it becomes settled, to render the slave States in North America what Russia aims to become in Europe, the power which dominates over every other. " The Senate of which America is proud" cannot complain of interference on the part of the English press, of English vagabond orators, or of _English Exeter-hall meetings, on this question. It has been hardly noticed by our journals, and the Earl of SHAFTESBURY and his lady have been silent. America and its Senate have not even the silly pretext of English intermeddling to excuse this unpardonable insult to the' whole civilised world. While the CZAR has been braving living and formidable warriors in his efforts to extend political slavery, tha Senate of the United States, a full half of its members being elected by so called free states, has been consigning an occupied and defenceless region to the horrors and abomi nations of personal, of negro slavery. It has strangled liberty before it could wield its arms, has deliberately plotted to enslave a State, or States yet unborn, and over a land of greater extent by far than the territory now coveted by the Czan, and tenanted at present by the roaming Indian, the buffalo, and the other free creatures of the wilderness, the tainted breath of United States legislation would spread for ever the malignant pestilence of slavery. We do not ask England to interfere, certainly not by its Government, nor even through its sin cere philanthropists. We have other work to do just now ; and if we had not, Despotism, whether in the East or in the West, is but irritated, not shamed, by the exposure of its selfishness. We do feel, however, a deep interest in the question. We long to respect America as much as we have always done ; the abominable Fugitive Slave Law gave us a shock hard to overcome; " Uncle Tom's Cabin," its authoress, and its tens of thousands of admiring readers in the States, helped us to realise that the American people were freemen at heart after all; but if this bill should pass the House of Representatives as well as the Senate, and receive, as it would do, the willing assent of such a thoroughgoing pro-slavery man as FRANKLIN PURCE, it would be difficult for Englishmen to regard the United States with the feelings it de sires to cherish towards our kinsmen in blood. We are glad to see that its progress is at least delayed; by a majority of 110 to 95 it is "re ferred to a committee of the whole" in the House of Representatives. Mrs. STOWE is earnestly ap pealing to her countrywomen ; the clergy of New York have sent a petition against it, signed by 151 names of ministers of all denominations in a few days ; and a monster petition, 200 feet long, and signed by 3,000 clergy-men, has also been presented. We hope the delay of the bill will be made use of to evoke an expression of feeling so strong and so universal in the States, which, despite the Fugitive Slave Law, still call themselves free, that the House will be compelled to reject it. We have many fears to the con trary ; but, if it becomes law, the Slave Power will bestride America as Russia does Austria and the rest of Germany. It is truly mortifying to see the House, which should be composed of the elite of American statesmen, the House which most Radicals would think chosen on a plan so far superior to that on which our. House of Lords is nominated, embracing so cordially a bill so infamous, that we believe our House of Lords would have hardly conceded to it a first reading, even if sent up by three-fourths of the House of Commons, and which they would certainly have kicked out at the second reading without a divi sion. We only pray that America may have to be prouder of her House of Representatives than she can now possibly be of her lauded Senate. One of the most extraordinary impositions ever attempted has just been brought to a conclu clusion—the curtain has fallen on the last scene of the strange drama of the pseudo " Sir RICHARD HUGH SMYTH, Baronet." The impostor had been detected at the last assizes for the county of Gloucester—his nefarious machinations brought to light, notwithstanding the almost unparalleled audacity displayed in carrying out his original false hood. No doubt could have remained as to his guilt when the eminent gentlemen by whom he was represented had indignantly flung down their briefs, having struggled zealously and efficiently so long as there was the remotest chance of the claim being well founded. No person but the criminal himself supposed that there was the slightest possibility of carrying on the deception, and evading the penal consequences of his mani fol offences. He, however, remained obdurate, with a perverse and unyielding determina continued to the last moment, even until the verdict of the jury and the sentence of the Court were pronounced, to assert the accuracy of his romantic statements, declaring that although he had committed " some irregularities" (!) it was nevertheless strictly true that he was the legiti mate son of the deceased Sir HUGH SMYTH, by his first wife, and as such the lawful owner of the wide-spread domains and princely inheritance be longing to his quasi father. The trial lasted two entire days; so great is the consideration shown even to criminals of the deep est dye by the constitutional law of the land. Everything, no matter how obvious, should be brought home to the accused beyond the possi bility of reasonable doubt. It was not deemed sufficient to show that he had endeavoured to put forward a Bible purchased by himself a short time previously, as one that had descended to him from his maternal grandfather, that he should have represented the old picture belonging to Mr. Pirovrs, the carpenter (his real father), as that of his alleged parent, Sir HUGH SMYTH, or that lie should have ordered the engraving of the seal with which the alleged will was sealed. All these were merely links in the chain of evidence, but to warrant a conviction the jury should be satisfied that he had actually forged, or uttered, knowing to be forged, the document on which the indictment was founded—the suppositious will of 1823. Even though perfectly aware of his fraud in setting himself up to be the lost heir, it would not have authorised a hostile verdict on that indictment, if he could by a possibility have believed the will which he was endeavouring to sustain by these fictitious means to have been a genuine document. We do not say that ho could not have been P u nished for any and every one of these fraudu lent acts, but it should have been under a different indictment ; and we merely allude to this to show the humanity of the British law, and the corn- THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL I 1 1854 plete manner in which the crime was brought home to the impostor ! Mr. PROVIS played for no trifling stake. He would have reaped a rich reward had he succeeded in his deception. A title of ninety years' stand ing, and that but the revival of one more than a century older, with a handsome mansion, and some 30,0001. sterling per annum to support the dignity with, was not to be despised ! These accessories were surely enough to stimulate the invention and keep steady to his tale the car penter's son, and the convicted horse-stealer. But the miraculous part of the transaction is, that he should have obtained oo many dupes —not merely ignorant persons, who might be deceived by the boldness of his assertions, but keen-witted attor neys, and close-fisted capitalists, who are said to have advanced the funds necessary for bringing his claim forward, and placing it clearly before the public. When he succeeded so far, is it surpris ing that he should have speculated still further on human credulity, or deemed it not impractic able to bamboozle even a British Judge and Jury, or possibly a Secretary of State, even after the final decision of the Jury had been arrived at ? It would otherwise be impossible to account for his obstinate persistance in the fictitious tale, even to rthe very last moment, and his insulting observations to several of the witnesses. He would otherwise have made a merit of necessity, and, like jJ RIAII HEAP, have exhibited an affected penitence, which might possibly have mitigated his punishment. But he must have been himself as credulous as he was audacious. He must have formed a very humble estimate of the intellects of those before whom he was to appear, if he conceived it possible to avoid the penal consequences of his de ception. His ignorance of the commonest pin , ciples of orthography his fatal error re specting the duplication of the consonants, which became so manifest upon the investigation of the fraud, and which occasioned similar mistakes in the spurious document, and other papers, acknowledged to be from his pen and in his hand writing, afforded a strong presumption of his guilt. The fact that the alleged will was written on parchment manufactured under a process not discovered until several years after the death of testator, proved that it could not have been genuine by any possibility ; and although the ignorance of the claimant might have induced him to overlook the obvious detection that awaited him on these points, it is difficult to conceive how he could have ventured putting forward the portrait of his own brother JOHN, who died at sea, as the likeness of Sir HUGH SMYTH, who had been living within the last thirty years, and whose lineaments must, therefore, have been familiar to many persons whose attention would necessarily be called by the circumstances, and who would be induced to examine the alleged portrait—that portrait, too, which was so well known to all the frequenters of old PROVIS'S house. Stranger still was the notion that the Bible which he had purchased a short time pre viously, with the name " JOHN S. VANDEN BURGH," should not be identified, or that the re spectable tradesman who had engraved the seal ,should not hear of the transaction, and come for , ward as he did to denounce the forger. The value of the recently adopted principle of examining the parties to a suit was clearly estab lished. THOMAS PROVIS condemned himself out of his own mouth, and the journals which circulated his statements throughout the length and breadth of the land insured his detection. It was on reading the report of the proceedings that the party by whom the inscriptions on the ring, dzc., had been engraved, sent the telegraphic message which brought the trial to a summary conclusion, and ultimately led to the banishment of the offender for twenty years a merciful sentence when we consider the magnitude of the fraud, and the enormous expense to which the real inheritor was subjected by the impudent claim. Earlier in the century he would have expiated his enormous guilt by an ignominious death on the scaffold. We believe, however, that twenty years' exile will be quite effectual in pre venting the example set by the would-be aristo crat from being followed, for it is the certainty of detection rather than the severity of the punish ment that is found to be effectual for the repres sion of crime. COURT CIRCULAR. Lord Raglan had an audience of the Queen yesterday afternoon. The Duke of Cambridge also visited her Majesty, and took leave on proceeding to join the expe dition to Turkey. Prince Albert rode on horseback in the forenoon, ac companied by the Prince of Wales, and attended by Lieut.-Colonel F. H. Seymour. Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold took a drive in an open carriage and four. The royal dinner circle yesterday evening, at Buck ingham Palace, included the Duchess of Kent, Lady Anna Maria Dawson, the Baroness de Speth, Viscount Canning, and Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps. The Earl of Aberdeen had an audience of the Queen yesterday at Buckingham , Palace, The Duchess of Kent visited the Duchess of Glouces ter yesterday at Gloucester House. The Duke of Cambridge visited the Earl of Aberdeen yesterday, at his official residence in Downing-street, to take leave of the noble earl. Lord Raglan also visited and took leave of the noble earl, on his departure to as sume the command of the British army in the East. The Duke of Cambridge and Lord Raglan left London last evening for Dover, to embark in the Vivid, Captain Srnithett, for the Continent. A deputation from the Council of the Society of Arts on the subject of a proposed bill for facilitating the con veyance of sites and vesting the same and other property of Literary and Mechanic's Institutions in trustees for them, had an interview with Earl Granville and the Right Hon. E. Cardwell, yesterday, at the Privy Council-office. The deputation consisted of Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P., Mr. Hutt, M.P., Mr. W. G. Lumley, Mr. Chester, and Mr. Le Neve Foster (the secretary). Mr. John Wood, Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, yesterday, at his official residence in Down ing-street. Despatches were received at the Colonial-office, yes terday, from the Lord high Commissioner of the lonian Islands, and from the Governor of Heligoland. The Duke and Duchess of Grafton will entertain a select circle at Wakefield Lodge, Northamptonshire, during the holidays. Lord Charles Lennox Fitzroy, Equerry in Waiting to Prince Albert, holds himself in readiness, we hear, to join his regiment, the Ist Batta lion of Coldstream Guards, now at Malta, under orders to embark for the Ottoman territories. The Viscount and Viscountess Newport, who have been entertaining a succession of visitants at his Lord ship's hunting seat at Melton Mowbray during the season, arrive at Wilton-crescent at the close of the month. The Duke 'of Portland, who has been suffering from indisposition, at Harcourt House, Cavendish square, is convalescent. The Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury intend to pass, we believe, the recess at Brighton. The Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford and their youthful family have left Hamilton-place, for Loftes hall, Shropshire, until after Easter. Lord and Lady Haddo and family intend to pass the holidays at the Ranger's House, at Blackheath. The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland and family are expected to leave Stafford House, St. James's, to morrow, to pass the holidays at Clifden, near Windsor. DEATH OF SIR JOHN BISSET, K.C.B.—The demise of this distinguished veteran, at Perth, on the 3d inst., is announced. Sir John held the office of Commissary of the Forces, under the Duke of Wellington, during the whole of the Peninsular war. By his death a pen sion of 5501. has reverted to the Crown. Sir John was a native of Perth, and he resided there for many years past. THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND THE REPRESENTATION OF SOUTHAMPTON.—Sir A. Cockburn has issued an ad dress to the electors of Southampton, in which lie says : " Having accepted the office of recorder of Bristol, I beg to inform you that my seat for Southampton has thereby become vacant. For the sixth time, within 7 years, I am again a candidate for the honour of repre senting you. I purpose at a very early day to appear before you in person, when I hope to have an opportu nity of addressing you on the topics which are, at the present moment, of public interest and importance." ETH LATE MR. JUSTICE TALFOURD.—A meeting is to be held in London on Saturday, the 29th inst., for the purpose of considering what will be the best method of carrying into effect a desire universally entertained by the friends of Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, that a suitable memorial shall be erected in honour of the late lamented judge. The idea, which has up to the pre sent time met with the largest share of favour amongst the literary men who have been consulted upon the sub ject, is the formation of a Talfourd scholarship, in one or both of the great national universities. THE BRAZILIAN MAILS.—SOUTHAMPTON, MONDAY. —The Royal Mail Company's steam-ship Great Western (Capt. Bevis) left this afternoon with the mails for the various ports in the Brazils and River Plate. She has taken out 35 passengers, 1,0651. value in jewellery, and a full cargo. The homeward portion of this mail is looked for by the Severn, on or about the 16th inst. MONE Y MARKET AND COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE, CITY, TWO O'CLOCK The sales of cotton at Liverpool yesterday were estimated at from 7,000 to 8,000 bales, including 1,000 American taken on speculation. The market was slightly, ,animated, and closed with prices fully supported. The sales comprised 500 Pernam and Maranham, at 61d. to Bid.; 60 Bahia, at 6id. to 6/d. ; 300 Egyptian, at 6(1. to Bd.; 700 Surat, at 21d. to 3/d. ; 30 Sea Island at is. to is. ld. ; and the remainder American. Railway Shares were buoyant at 1 to 15 per cent. higher. The Tallow Market has been quieter within the last day or two, but the following statement as to the probable future supplies, as furnished by Messrs. F. J. Smith and Charles, is interesting : Our stock of tallow on lst inst. was Last year, from all places, Petersburg alone ex cepted, we received from Ist April to 30th September 15,69 Casks. 34,000 49,69 The delivery from Ist April to 30th September last year was, say, 47,6'66. Take for the same period this year, two-thirds We cannot expect from Australia or South America (as we showed on the 3d uit.), as much as last year. We have, however, as sumed that we receive the same. Now, add an extra quantity from the Continents 31,773 17,913 2,08 Stock on Ist October, 1854 It must be remembered, that from October onwards, our great supplies from Russia arrive, and our great demand on the spot takes place. What are we to do without these supplies ? Letters from St. Petersburg do not quite bear out the view that the Emperor of Russia has seized the private property of Sir Hamilton Seymour, our late Ambassador there, but it does appear, at any rate, that there has been some difficulty, and whether this rests simply with the agents and re lates to official forms, or is more serious and results from the direct interposition of the Government, has yet to be seen. Mercantile failures are occurring in Russia sooner than was expected, and the cessation of pro duce exports will probably occasion further disasters. At St. Petersburg, Ilja Stephanoff has stopped ; at Moscow, S. Alexeyeff, T. Mathias, and C. Keyser; and at Riga, M. Jensen. From Florence we are advised of the suspension of three large firms, viz., Lomprenti, Finzi, and Cini. Accounts from Madrid state that since the de claration of war the Bank of San Fernando was more shy in making advances to the Minister of Finance ; and mining industry, which was actively prosecuted a short time back, has received a severe check, as well as the construction of railways. Up to Sunday evening last, the advices received at Vienna from the Russian Quartermaster-Gene ral made no mention of the alleged battle at Rassova. On the contrary, it was asserted that General Luders had advanced as far as the wall of Trajan, without meeting any opposition. The evacuation by the Russians of the Aland islands, appears to be confirmed in the Hamburg letters dated yesterday. A. great change has come over the English Stock Market, the renewed doubts cast upon the sincerity of Austria and Prussia, having had a sensible in fluence in inducing sales. Consols opened at 87a to 88, and have just been done as low as 87 to 4-, upon the assertion that the Prussian Envoy, Chevalier Bunsen, is recalled. The New 3 4 per Cents. have been 871 to 87k, and the 3 per Cents. 861 to 87. Exchequer Bills have been marked 2s. to Gs., and India Bonds 2s. premium. Foreign Securities have been flatter, and with more disposition to sell. Russian 5 per Cents. have been 95 to and the per Cents. 82 to 1. This is an advance, which must be ascribed to the scarcity of the stock compared to the bearing car ried on, for no rational person would invest in it under present circumstances, and at the current high prices, when the dividends may at any mo ment be suspended. Spanish Deferred Stock has been at 17*. Mexican Bonds have dropped from 241 to 234. Venezuela Stock is at 221 ex dividend. The Railway Share Market has been decidedly worse. Midland have receded about Ito 11, Cale donian 1, Great Northern 1 to V I , South Eastern and the rest in proportion. French shares arc 1 to 1 per share lower than at the official close yesterday. The arrangements for the settlemen t have some effect. Mines, Banks, and Land Companies are easier to buy. BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.—CLOSING PRICES (Prom the OlicialtList.) Business done. Bank Stock i per Cent. Reduced Annuities B6l a 7 64 3 per Cent. Consols Annuities 87$ 8 7$ 1$ 4 4 New 31 per Cent. Annuities 8 74 iiiiiii New 2i per Cent. Annuities Long Annuities, Expire sth Jan., 1860 Dittc 30 Years, Expire 10th Oct., 1859 4 7-16 India Bonds, £lOOO Ditto, under £lOOO 2 p Consols for Account 18th April B7s 1 8 71 7 1 Exchequer Bills, 2d. £lOOO 4500 6 2 p Small 6 2 p PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY. Chilian Bonds, 6 per Cent ........ ......... Grenada Bonds, Deferred Mexican 3 per Cent. Russian Bonds, 1822, 5 p er C en t. £St 954 590 1 904 Ditto for the Account Ditto 44 per Cent 824 2 SO Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent 774 Spanish NOW Deferred, 3 per Cent. 174 Swedish 4 per Cent__ .. Venezuela Bonds, 34 per Cent. Dividends on the above payable in London. Dutch Exchange, 2 per Cent. 12 Gull — Ditto 4 per Cent. Certificates . Ditto for the Account B5 THREE O'CLOCK. 87; 6 Consols Ditto April Account PASSION WEEK.—The customary performance of Handel's oratorio, " Messiah," will be given by the London Sacred Harmonic Soeiety, Exeter-hall, on Thursday evening, under the direction of Mr. Surman, the conductor and founder of these oratorios. - The solos will be sung by Miss Louisa Pyne, Miss Dolby, Miss Messent, Miss C. Henderson, Mr. Donald King, Mr. Lawler, and Mr. J. Marshall. The band and chorus will be on its usual magnificent scale, complete in every department. SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY.—By the unanimous vote, both of old and new colleagues, Mr. Chaplin was, on Thursday last, again placed in the chair of this company. Remembering all the eventful circumstances and great changes of the few years last past, this must be most gratifying to the feelings of Mr. Chaplin. Silver and gold testimonials are numerous enough, but it is seldom that a testimonial consisting of the supporting votes, not only of old friends, but of old ene m i es , i s g i ven . Such a testimonial is legitimate and valuable in the highest degree.—llerapath's Journal. BILLS OF EXCHANGE BILL.—Lord Brougham's Bill for the Registration of Dishonoured Bills of Exchange, and for speedy execution thereon, proposes to provide that bills of exchange and promissory notes may be pro tested by any attorney or solicitor, and that the holder of any protested bill or note which is duly stamped, and free from erasures or alterations may, at any time within six months after its becoming due, register it with the master of one of the three superior courts of law, and shall thereupon be entitled to judg ment and execution against the parties to the bill or note, within six days after service of an order of the court to that effect, to be given to him upon such registration ; and power is left with the judge to direct execution, without personal service of the order, if it shall appear to him that the order has come to the knowledge of the party, or that he wilfully evades ser vice of it. Such an order may be served out of the juris diction, but the period for obtaining execution is then to be extended beyond six days. The party served with the order may apply to the court to stay execution, the application to be supported by an affidavit disclosing what would constitute a legal defence, and the court may then stay execution, and direct a trial or a spe cial case for the opinion of the court ; but execution is not to be stayed unless the party seeking to stay it give security for the payment of the bill and costs, or satisfy the Court that his signature has been forged, or that the title of the holder is affected with fraud, or that other circumstances exist to induce the Court to dispense with such security. Where the amount of the bill or note does not exceed 501. it may be registered in the County Court within the jurisdiction of which the acceptor or maker resides, and the proceedings may be in that court. A judgment-order on a bill or note accepted, made, or endorsed within two months of ,bankruptcy is to be void. DEPARTURES FOR AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.—The de partures from the port of London for the Australian colonies during the past week show a decrease. They have comprised altogether 8 vessels-2 to Port Philip, with an aggregate burden of 1,530 tons ; 2 to Sydney, with an aggregate burden of 1,512 tons ; 2 to Hobart Town, with an aggregate burden of 915 tons ; and 2 to Adelaide, with an aggregate burden of 899 tons. Their total capacity was consequently 4,856 tons. The rates of freight are steady, without material alteration. THE EXPENSE OF LAW PROCEEDINGS.—Yesterday a return showed that in one year the expense to parishes in England and Wales of proceedings in law and equity It as 62,831/. LATEST FOREIGN NEWS. THE BALTIC. By telegraphic despatches we learn that five English ships of war passed Hammaran, in the island of Bornholm, at half-past six on the sth, with a fresh westerly breeze. The navigation of the Gulf of Finland is not ye . open. The Austerlitz is at Helsinfors. Five men of the British steamer Driver have been drowned in the Belt by an accident. The Danish Government considers as contraband of war, wood for ship-building, cordage, tar, and sails of hempen manufacture, but not coal. Russia seems to direct a most vigilant attention to the defence of the coasts of Finland. A line of telegraph has been established from St. Petersburg to the promontory of Hangs. The Patric says, private letters from the Gulf of Finland, of March 24, say the ice is still very strong at Cronstadt, and that a violent north-east wind was prevalent. From the state of the atmos phere at Lake Ladoya, at Petersburg, and at Cronstadt, it was thought that the thaw had not begun, and that Cronstadt would not be accessible before the beginning of May. THE WEATHER IN THE BALTIC. Subjoined are the latest advices relative to the state of the navigation in the Baltic LAURNIG, April3.—The weather continues mild, and the navigation open. The prevailing winds for the last week have been W. and N.W., occasionally blowing very fresh. Many timber-loaded vessels have put in along the coast. The Kong Sverre, hence to New York, with iron, has put into Porter windbound. DRAM, March 28.—The ice in the Fjord has broken up, GOTHENBURG, April I.—The weather continues fine and mild, with rain. GEFLE, March 28.—The River here has been open for some days, and the fairway, it is hoped, will be clear next week. REVEL, March 29.—The bay has been blocked up by ice. The wind having shifted to N.W. here, no open water is b be seen. The weather is m ild during the day, with 4 and 5 degrees of frost every night. THE GERMAN POWERS. It appears that although the Prussian Govern ment has striven to exclude from the military convention just signed between Austria and Prus sia every stipulation which might bring it under an engagement to appear in arms against Russia, the convention contains provisions to which the force of circumstances may very soon give the cha racter of obligations to fight against the common enemy. The Austrian Government announces in the Oest Correspondenz that the Four Powers find it necessary to declare that the state of war which has arisen between two of them, France and Eng land, and Russia, has not changed the unalterable agreement between those Powers, the object of that agreement being the integral preservation of the Turkish empire, the evacuation of its Danu bian provinces, and the amelioration of the Chris tian population. The Russian party at the Court of Vienna are extremely active in their efforts to prevent the Austrian Government from taking part against their patron. They contend that the part to be taken by Austria ought to be an inactive one ; that she ought to assume a position such as would make her an impassable barrier between the Danube and the Rhine, and a watchful observer of passing events, so as to become the arbitrator of Europe at the proper moment. They do not fail to raise doubts as to the intentions of England. England, they say, after having destroyed the navy of Rus sia, will not be long in finding a pretext to destroy the navy of Austria. The war, according to them, was got up, not by the aggressions of the Czar upon Turkey, but by England, who hopes, by means of this war, to ensure to herself the sovereignty of the seas and the monopoly of the commerce of the world. These are the ideas put forth at Vienna, andfostered by the Russian party. According to accounts they have made a deep impression on the Emperor of Austria himself, and are repeated openly, not only by him, but by the ministers and generals who are his confidents. While the Austrian ministers and the Sovereign himself entertain such views, it may easily be conceived that, it would not be prudent to place too much confidence in the assistance from that quarter. The autograph letter from the Em peror Francis Joseph to the Emperor of the French has never deluded the French Government. It was all along felt to be evasive. It appears that the preparations making by Austria are of the most formidable description. All the different divisions of the army have been successively reinforced. The operation is still going on, and in a few months Austria Swill be in possessions of an army which will make her most formidable, and, as long as she continues in her present vacillating policy, a cause of serious uneasiness to the Western Posers. A letter from Widdin after giving details of the successful attack of the Turks upon the Russians in their attempt to cross the Danube at Turtukai says—" The Russians are plainly making a serious attempt to cross the Danube. Now, what can embolden them to take this dangerous step ? If France and England are really and heartily aided by the concurrence of Austria and the consent of Prussia—i.e., if Europe is really arrayed against the Czar, it would be madness and folly combined for Caasar to go over the Rubicon, for then the die is cast, for if Austria had sincerely joined the West ern Alliance, the Russian general would be com pelled to look about and see how he could run away from Wallachia towards home, instead of going over the Danube and getting further away from home. The only possibility of safety for him, in the midst of a hostile population in a country not his own, with the enemy surrounding him from Galatz to Kalafat, on the east, south, and west, and the Austrian on the north, would be to hasten for the narrow passage between Mol davia and Wallachia before this also be closed, and the Russians effectually shut in on every side. But granting the treachery of Austria, and sup posing a secret treaty to exist between her and. Russia, and the thing is perfectly clear, this ex plains everything —e. g., Ist. We know then why the Czar appears so blindly resolved for an impos sible war against all Europe ; 2ndly. We under stand why Austria has begun to vacillate, after giving the English Ministers occasion to declare her upon their side ; 3rdly. Now we comprehend the otherwise unaccountable fact that Austria, in stead of entering Wallachia against the Russians, or Bulgaria to assist the Turks, or Servia, where the people, however falsely, are yet Said to be in a 'state of great excitement, or even instead of remaining neutral at home, finds it necessary to enter peaceful Bosnia—and for what reason ? The whole thing cannot be explained without supposing that Austria has a secret treaty with Russia. Now I hazard nothing in saying that in less than three months Austria will be hand and glove with Russia. She will abandon for the moment her Italian provinces to France and Piedmont, and expect to recover them when peace is made, or take an equivalent in the East. And Bonaparte said, Europe cannot prevent Aus tria and Russia united from taking Constanti nople. It is my firm persuasion'that Europe is about to witness the greatest diplomatic lie of our century. Never trust Austria for one moment !" A communication from Belgrade, dated March 29, says :—" The matter of Austria's treachery grows more and more evident. Certainly if she goes for Russia, a revolution breaks out in Hun gary. It is organised, an d a ll rea d y . This is sure." The Cologne Gdzette says it is assured that Hanover and Brunswick have declared themselves in a sense favourable to Prussia in the view that she takes of the Eastern question. We find in a Berlin letter, written evidently on information denied from an authentic source, some details of the proceedings in the com mittee of the Second Chamber of Prussia on the bill for a loan, which will be read with interest, for they throw a certain amount of light on the policy of the Prussian cabinet as regards the Eastern question. One of the first points dis cussed by the committee was the reported pro position at the end of• February from the cabinet of Austria to that of Prussia for the signature of the latter to a new protocol of the conference. M. de Manteuffel refused to lay this proposition before the committee, but read the copy of a despatch which he had sent to the Prussian minister at Vienna containing his rea sons for refusing to sign it. These reasons were that as regarded the principle upon which the Four Powers had acted in the conference no new protocol was necessary, and that if it was intended to enter into a convention for the means of execu tion, Prussia could not be a party to it without stipulating for reservations, as she was resolved to maintain her liberty of action. It was announced to the committee that the Austrian cabinet had abandoned its first proposition, and now proposed a new form of protocol. It is probably this letter which, according to the last accounts from Berlin, has been signed by the Prussian ambassador at Vienna. Of the precise nature of this protocol we know nothing officially at present, but the letters from Berlin concur in stating that it has for its object to continue the moral co-operation of the Four Powers in favour of the rights of Turkey and the maintenance of the balance of power .n Europe, without binding Austria and Prussia to take part iu the hostilities of France I and England against Russia. Several of the mem , bers of the committee having expressed themselves as much dissatisfied with the language of the Pruirn sian Cabinet in the despatch to the ambassador at Vienna and said that they regar d e d th e re f usa l to sign the convention proposed by the other three powers as indicative of a leaning to Russia, M. de Manteuffel replied that in everything that had been done by the Prussian Cabinet, there was proof on the contrary that it disapproved of the conduct of the Emperor of Russia, and far from encouraging his pretensions was most anxious to convince him that he had no reason to calculate on the support of Prussia. What the Prussian Cabineedesired was to reserve to itself full liberty of action, to maintain a. policy of expectation and mediation, and not to bind itself to either of the belligerent powers. If, he added, the Western Powers or either of them should here , after depart from the conduct which had been hitherto observed by them, and which had met with the approbation of Prussia, how could the latter maintain her independence and impartiality, if she became a party by convention to a policy of action ? In support of this argument, M. Manteuf fel observed that in the possible, but certainly very improbable, event of the Prussian provinces of the Rhine being attacked by France, would it not then be the duty of the Prussian Government to forget the injustice and the aggressions of Russia on the Eastern question ? The Prussian Cabinet had no leaning to Russia, its sympathies were the other way, as would also be its interests, so long as the Western Powers should persevere in the prin ciples which in the conference of Vienna had the full approbation of Prussia. The reservations of which he spoke were, he declared, imposed by a . right policy, and he had, besides, to remark to the committee that 'up to the present time no power has even asked for the active co-operation of Prussia. This reasoning did not appear to convince the majority of the Committee, but one of the mem bers, who is favourable to Russia, having expressed an opinion that the Prussian Cabinet should de clare itself in favour of that power, M. de Man teuffel rejected the recommendation in terms of such energy as to produce a strong effect in his favour on the majority. The speech of the Minister-President to the Second Chamber, we learn from another source, was nearly as follows : "Gentlemen,—The Government of his Majesty has, in consequence of the great political excitement in which Europe is just now, and in consequence of the dangers of war which threaten on various sides, approached this House with the request to grant thorn a credit of which they stood in need, to enable them, when occasion re 'quires, to set the whole military power of the kingdom in activity. When I brought forward this demand, three weeks back, proof might possibly have been asked for the existence of such dangers ; to-day, when every newspaper brings evidence of the warlike commotion in which the most powerful States of Europe are engaged, no further proof is necessary, and the simple question lies before you : will you, gentlemen, in the midst of ' these dangers, grant the Government the means of meeting them with energy, or will you refuse them ? You are competent to both decisions. "To your committee I have given information as to the progress of political events, and the attitude hitherto observed by Prussia towards them, with all possible cir cumstantiality and candour. I did so with the full con viction that it might be done without injury to the country, and because I would not withhold from you, gentlemen, anything that might have an influence on 1 " your vote, and because it was a very welcome opportu-. f nity for me to obviate erroneous representations and, statements that were harassing the country, and place , , the policy of Prussia in the right light, as an independen policy directed from the very commencement towards peaceful settlement of the conflict. - "I will not repeat what you have already before you, , printed in the report of the committee, but one fact I will now add, which I could not communicate to the com• 1 • miitee, because I did not know it myself—it is this, tha : a fresh Protocol h a s b een agree d t o b etween the Repro- ' sentatives of the Four Powers in Vienna, one which at- , tests their community of action on the basis hitherto ob served, and that our Minister there received orders two days back to sign the same. "The Governmentdesires, from the very outset of this "r important debate, to leave no doubt in what way it will understand the meaning of your vote. The Government • will look on a conditional or a deferred vote as a refusal of the means required as important and necessary ; and no less would the object of the vote demanded be defeated • by conditions and assumptions, which would tie our hands just at a moment when it is most essential that we should keep them free. The Government cannot and will not make a policy for the future, because it con siders such to be not to the advantage of the country. "If you do not t rus t th e G overnment that it will at the right time rightly employ the credit demanded ; if you require undertakinga for the future ; if you determine on having other guarantees than the past and the present offer you—then, gentlemen, you have • the right to answe r ' s io' to the d eman d o f th e Govern- )• ment. I need not tell you, however, what an influ ence 41 on the attitude of Prussia such a ' No' would have in the present conjuncture of European events. If it is otherwise with you, you will give us a hearty and powerful 'Yes,' as a proof that, however opinions and views may differ and diverge as to the questions of the day, approaching danger always finds Prussia at with herself." one According to the Private (Lithograph) Corre- 2; spondenee of Berlin, the real object of the mission of the Duke George of Mecklenburg-Strelits to that city was to prevent the conclusion of an alliance between Austria and Prussia. THE DOBRUDSCHA. Russian reports transmitt e d to Vienna from Bucharest, under date the sth of April, do not make any fresh mention of the battle which was announced in letters dated the 4th. The latest despatches only speak of the unopposed march 'of the Russians towards the wall of Trajan. M. de Meyendorff has had a Te Deum performed in the chapel of his hotel at Vienna, to celebrate the victory of the Russians in the Dobrudsoha. All the persons belonging to the Russian Embassy were present. The Vienna Lloyd announces that 5,000 prisoners were made by the Russians at Matschin, after the two days' bombardment of that fortress. They have been conducted into Bessarabia.• Many Eng lish and French instructors are said to be among their number. It appears beyond doubt, says a letter from the Turkish capital of the 30th ult., that the Russians have crossed the Danube at Matschin, or beween that place and Hirsova. A not uncommon opinion here is that the movement is intended to strengthen their line of defence a g ainst the expected a d ven t o f the allied forces, and that it forms no part of a system of attack on the Ottoman army. It is re presented that the enemy might have a well-grounded fear of an army landed on the coast of the Euxine, which could at present advance without molesta tion, and cross the Danube in that part of its course in which it takes a northerly direction. By this means the Russians would be taken in the rear, , their supplies intercepted, and their communication with their own country cut off. What, therefore, it is urged, is more likely than that an enemy so skilful and so well acquainted with the country should endeavour to obviate a palpable danger ? From the Danube to the Black Sea extends a line of defence, the relic tf Roman times. A long and narrow lake with a wall—the work of the Emperor Trajan— renders the upper Rus sian the a o r f mie s D ea o s b u r y u d d efe sch n a si supe rior force. The policy of the Russians, then, a b n le d against the a flank of much the Rus un doubtedly is to entrench themselves between Tchernavoda on the river and Kostendjee on the sea, to guard the most assailable part of their field of operations and to secure to themselves an easy retreat in case of failure. Such is the plan of ope rations attributed to the Czar by many here, but whether it has any real foundation must be left for events to show, or, at least, to the superior know ledge of those acquainted with the country to de termine. Others regard the whole movement merely as a feint, intended to divide the forces of Omer Pasha, with a view to an attack by the main body at some place higher up the river. It is not doubted in any quarter that the Russians are eager to gain some important advantage before the powerful as sistance of the Western Powers can be brought to bear, and we may be assured that every temptation will be lavished to entice the Ottoman commander into some false movement, which may change into success the hitherto adverse fortune of the Russian Generals. The Austrian Soldatenfreund gives i n th e follow ing statement a justification of Mustapha Pacha's conduct in his capacity of Commander iu the Do brudscha :—" Mustapha Pacha received the message informing him about the p re p arat i ons of the Rus sians for crossing the Danube so early as on the 22d ult., but he was also informed that the passage was to be probably made by the main Russian army of 90,000 men, and tint the garrisons of Matchin, Isaktsha, and Tultsha could hardly impede their advance and consequent operations. The com mander of the Turkish forces would certainly have had time, as far as that goes, to reinforce the gar rison of Babadagh, which consisted of 2,500 men, by despatching troops via Kasimtshi, on the road from Karassu ; strategetic considerations, how ever, were opposed to this proceeding. MUS tapha Pacha was already aware that the Russians were at the same time making preparations for crossing the Danube from Wallachia at the ford , near Kiserdshi, six miles b e l ow Hi rsova . As the Russian encampment-to the north-east of Kalaras l . l . was 60,000 strong, Must a ph a P ac h a was com pelled in making his arrangements to keep this fact 11 1 view. He was obliged at once to abandon the de fence of the height near Babadagh, and order the troops occupying the road along the coast, as far as Kostendjee, to fall ba c k on his own positiori. Had he acted o th ezwine, and occupied Babadligil