The Sun. — London, England, 1814-01-18 00:00:00

i . NAVAL NEWS,t, At a Lite. hour yesterday afteruthin two of t he font. Falmouth Moils due reached the Post o% ce• Their contents are unimportant.—On t he llth inst, several transports, names unknown, a rrived From Portsmouth, bound to Passages, ttlio t tvo gun-hrigs, names' unknown.--On the 12th, nol ' l 'is'als. The Express packet sailed with the th e Windward Island. Mails. Noce of the Mails Lontdon or Plymouth, due at Falmouth on .the lith and 12th, had reached that port ; neither h aul the Mails Of the 11th or 12th left Falmouth fo r - 1 49P:10u, in consequence of the iibpossibility for them to proceed.- --'Tie Falmouth Mails, due t ' - ' l4 y, Yesterday, and Saturday, remain due.; and = Aiails are due from Plymouth. u tsl ,es' 14 At, JAN. 17.—Came down from the River 'l4 Majesty's ships Antelope,. Desir6::, and e4 ckeir, and the Spanish ship San Joze, for e n ut 4 America. The latter has sailed for her des ,li°n, and the Desiree frigate to Portsinouth. — ‘ 1 "ind N. P° ltTsiwornt, 17.—Arriver1 bis Majesty's :4 1 13uffako . fr in the Dowlis, and the Escort from tte rnsey. Sailed his Majesty's ship Rodney, Nt ' ill lthe fleet for Corunna, Oporto, and Lisbon.— ' .1 7 ind N . E. IlAftwICH, JAN. 17.—Arrived six transports u 'll the River, bound to Holland, and the Lord ' m ean packet with mails and passengers. Sailed ev eral transports, in ballast, for Portsmouth. , \Vind 4r aoog the rumours invented in this Coun tr y ti l esPec ting the basis proposed in the late over .4lo on the Continent, which' (though neither the I t „e 3 tier nitroNA.zis terp. would publish} are ex - T t'el7- known to some of our dashiag News ' Ns Per Editors is the following : tt: We have'also fueled from authority, that- in te„"swer which BUONAPARTE gave to the offer t e raee, made to on the Ist of December, he e ne -e Pted of the terms, agreeing to else 1 independ clme°f the .N.ingdoms and States,. which were in illtl,,4tilt at the commencement of the war with POwers, With this imperfect addition— tl tQe m 'ey should also agree to declare and guaran - IYe r - " k e independence of ,the Seas—or in other t they should by a format confederacy ,t erti . a li tle to resist tthe Maritime rights of Great 1 , 11 of e following, we understand, is the substance 4 new.delensive alliance into which the a lLer States of Germany hive enteied 4.,- on .foot, e in have o.foot, during the war; double the ~ - ' 4 nlber of troops which formed the ottota of e tchr of them when they were members of the i l t a behish COnfederation : the one half to be rego tiathe other landwehr : - both branciio-of the t e " i " to be kept constantly complete by means of L u serv es• The troops are to he formed into several gr hrraies, each of which is to have ,its own • k ;'"r4l and staff Officers, with particular ensigns. 11 - ,, t r jeat manufactory of arms at Said, Solingen, and Olberban, are to work for the 4 t itleet of those armies alone. A part of the to taken in the campaign shall be _give . n le r i st e 'e corps for the purpose of forming aroi Le together with all the arms which may yet •i a ,"'s• in the fortresses on the Elbe. r lilt followin conununication, says the Mortar? g e i t , ° „ nle le. has beet, made to us from a respectable the contemplation of a' Congress to ils'3"'t the te rms o f p e ace atoolig thelielligerent ,1, er s, a proposition was made to our Govern co " Court of Russia, that the American tlhlt h'issioners who have _been - some time at Court, should attend at such Congress, with bo ` j ' e vr to the consideration and ad a justient of l. 'lisputes with America. But this proposition 'het Nl. , the fate of the Proffered mediation of Russia, 4;' 11 it. is understood, was lec . lined with a distinct •"ration, that "Great Bwa t tn would not submit t`ls,) c outroversy with America to the determina teri o f any third power." The reply of Minis . I N ; the late proposition was somewhat similar, 4r , as•we are assured, much more deeL ye. For al:1r tile usual p ro f ess i on s of courtesy and assnr ,a4es of the respect and regard entertained by l otit ( 'ourt for t'hmc E Emperor ALExANDR ; a reso xvi,4):' was firmly expressed against submitting I a arc term e d "" the maritime rights " of.Eng n(le). tueussion at any Congress whatever, 1n "halm), it is understood that the Russian fl°~ acqinesced. t 4,4 biter front Antwerp of the 12th inst. men that- from that - hour the intercourse would ofDstrueted that Marshal LE BRUN, (Mike , a I leenza). w h o was in corn/nand as Prefect, ( ) 'lndoried his trust, and that with thegarri which consisted of ,10,000 men, it Was pro- Posed to deiend.the plactto the last extremity. c hN i t he detachments under ordcis for India, in those which were intinided for immediate vrabarliation in the fleet now ready to be dis 13:tehed, hav e rece i ve d counter' orders., and arc to ( I) ., rtle ' ee d forthwith t o join the forces under Sir T. YA,t Q . r in Hollerol. • The. Italian prisoners of war selected from the Prison s hi ps, and amounting to. 10-00 effective fle " , are on board the trans torts Bulmer, Dun eomh, klarrlyt, -cold Collingwood, waiting orders to s ail. They are comManded by, Major Boy- VER.re.. A large assortment of dresses and jewellery has . be enrecently brought Oy er to thi s c ountry as a Present to. a certain Marchioness, from no less a .perso n tban the Empress - MARIA LOUTSA• The bear er was a Lady W--, who is recently arriv ed from Prance.. • The Lady.to whom the present has been sent is said to feel considerable embarrass ment as to the proper mode of -conveying her thank s to' the imperial Donor. The present itself Is thought to have morereference to_political sub jects, that; to mere innters' of form or courtesy: BUONAPARTE is said to be always on horseback; `fir Li )! CKS. ErnTon,---If lou are of op.inion that the inclosed letter, which was hurriedly written some time ago : to a friend in England, contains any thing which would interest your Readers, it is very much at your disposal. 1 can say nothing is it; favour except that it contains nothing but truths, and that it was ‘rritten while the circum stances were yet fresh in the writer's memory. CANTZU. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. DEAR SIR,—I have just returned from a tr:p to the head-quarters of Gen. TETTERBORN, which ha‘ afforded me more pleasure than any cruise I have made for a long time. Yon will naturally suppose that I did not let slip this occasion of paying.my'respeets to the Cassacla ; that strange race of men of whom we have heard so much of late, and of whose savage virtues you know I was always a warm admirer. This admiration, I can assure you, has not been lessened by a nearer ac- quaintance. Unlike the heroes of the day, the Cossacks strike not at a distance only , their chaw racter possesses features so intrinsically peculiar as to excite admiration in the closest obserrer• At least, I can safely say, such was my case ; and if you can find patience to get through the im- ntense epistle that I foresee is about to he manu factured for your edification, you will, I believe, allow that my case is not likely to be a singular one. From the official nature of my visits to the head-quarters of the Russians General, I was al ways accompanied by an escort of Cossacks ; and thus !lad the very best opportunity of closely ob serving them : and, indeed, one sees much of them in a short time. Their actions, unshackled by the bond of fa.bion, and their unsophisticated naivete, give such a. transparency to their Mat eharac- , tar at "he that runs may read ;" and thus even a courier may come to know something of them. With regard to their persons there is nothing vere remarkable. In general they are stout, and many have elegant and expressive countenances. The old men wear their beards long, and the young, for the most part,have mustachios. They haVe t,ll a particular uniform, such as, I dare say, you saw worn by the Cossack that was in London some time ago. - But it is a rare thing thing in deed to sec the Cossacks in their uniform. So fully do they infort'e the utmost privilege of conquest, and so full a harvest has this war af forded to their inclinations, that he has indeed been an unfortunate warrior that is . not decked in a suit of French Imperial uniform. And, in fact, at first sight, from their fine cloaks and shining sabres (most of them of French Officers) you would, at a, little distance, mistake a party of Cossacks for a troop of French, were you not un deceived by their mode of riding. and the view Of the ." long portending spear." In truth, a Cos sack (one of my escort, who had put to death, la Cossaque, two gens- . d'armes they encountered), dressed himself so completely in the garb of the conquered, that, on his return to Bremen with his fellows, the inhabitants mistook him for a French man taken prisoner, and,, accordingly, gathered round him with shouts of triumph and reproach. The quantity of clothes they carry, thus procured, is astonishing, and suffers no increase or diminu tion according. to the season. It is the state of the war, not of the weather, that regulates the ward robe of the 'Cossack. From the same source these rovuig warriors derive considerable sums of money ; and it is but doing them justice to say, that in this particular (the love of gold) they yield not to their more civilized brethren of the west. Nor, to procure it, do they always square their conduct by the strictest rules of European justice; and I would be far from recommending it to any one with a new coat, or a good display of seals, to throw himself in the way of a Cos 'sack ; unless, indeed, he happened to overflow with that Christian charity whose delight is to give away. From this circumstance, partly, but prin cipally from the immense numbers. of the enemy that have fallen into their hands during the late . campaigns, it has happened that the Cossacks arc all rich,—few of the common inf!li possessing, as I have learnt from the very best authority, less than 200 Louis d'ors. With respect to the mental qualities of these warriors, there is one remarkable trait in their character which cannot fail to strike every stranger at first sight, particularly as it 19 one which the common notions of the day would not lead him to expect. What I allude -to is their excessive mildness and good nature. This featoe of their character appears to me infinitely more prominent and conspicuous than I have ever re marked in any other class of men. elood hu mour and complacency eternally sparkle in their eyes, and play upon their countenance. In their intercourse with one another, to say that they irate ust of too strong atl ekpfesstoti. i 46 thaii hard vet spokiri with drert,irc;' , .thd slightest . . semion or even tendenty to quarrel among them; and this surprising inildneiS remains unruflied evert Ir.! the most powerful motives : it yields not to avarice -itself. So that when a foe falls in battle, though perhaps by the united efforts of several, whoever happens to seize the spoil: lowed to possess it unmolested ; nor does any dis tribution take place, except from the voluntary bounty of the first possessor. Nor is this display of good humour only in their intercourse with each other it extends to every one ; and a stranger may examine their arms, dress, •and even the beloved horse, without the slightestschance of experiencing a 'look even of displeasure, much less a refusal. So well is this known that the very children may be seen sporting with the cloak and even the beard of the peaceful Cossack : " and children know, " By instinct taught, the friend from foe." It Will readily be believed, that men possessed of hearts thus warm will not regard with indifietence their nativeltind. In truth, so strong is thei r love for every thing Russian (or rather Cossaque) that an ()Meer assured -me he had seen in sonic part of Germany, • his Cossacks alight and kiss "the, Toot prints of the horses - of some of their countrymen who-lrad recently passed the same road they were travelling. The love they bear therr horses is pyo verbial ; nor is it surprisingthat the.fahhful animal that has carried hint from..the banks of the Don to the Weser, that has borne him safe end victorious from so many fields, that has shared all his dangers and comforts, his table,* a nd 'Li s conch, should be 'to the Cossack an object of the warmest affection. For my own part, while tra , yelling with these brave fellows, when I consi dered that they had left their native land f rom th e! pu:est patriotism, and had traversed so - many countries to assist to break in pieces the bands that enslaved Europe, rcould never - divest myself of a degree of tenderness which I never felt for any other men who were strangers to me ; nor, to speak the truth, could I refuse some -portion of this good will, to their friends and companions, their trusty steeds. But this mildness of'the : Cossack is only the at tribute of peace ; it 'is but the 'calmness of the summer ocean. , In the stormy scenes of battle you can,no more recognise, in the terrible and un sparing warrior, the mild- being we have describ ed, than you can discover in " the howling Waste of mighty waters" any of the soft and placid beau ties of the wave of July. It was my fortune to see a specimen of this darker_ side of the Cossack character. I hare already Mentioned that my es cort put to death two French d'armes. This they did without the slightest necessity, (as they were ten to two and could have easily made them prisoners) and in the most barbarous manner, cutting and mangling them in a most shocking way. Though too late to save the poor wretches, I, of course, endeavoured' to pievens them being eat in pieces before my eyes ; but I Was soon forced to retreat from my supplicating posture by the lance of a Cossack pointed at myself : Man camerad ► mein. camerad !" exclaimed be,. striking violently on his shoulder, in which part of his comrades had been wounded by one Of the gens 'd'armes ;) and, immediately, as I retired from before him, plunged his pike through the ex piring body..‘ Nor, must I forget to mention an other circumstance which , most strongly exem plifies . their barbarity, and shows the -iffect of habit in extinguishing every feeling of humanity Before one of the French' soldiers was yet dead, and while some of the Cossacks were yet mang ling him with their pikes and sabres, another - was rifling his pockets, and a third and fourth got his legs across a small tree that happened to be grow ing in tbe - street,t and by this horrid contrivance tugged bif.his boots, which one of thern immedi ately put on ! lam not sure Whether these Cos ,sacics had not received orders not to spare any of the gens (ravines, hot, at all events, I doubt, after their comrade had been wounded, if any or il,•rs would have induced them to save them.— When they had finished the catastrophe they came up to me with smiles on their countenance, 'and accosting •me by the usual appellation of " camerad," held out their hands to give the grasp of friendship and . congratulation at my es cape, for they well knew that, but for their inter ference, the " Courier" would have been a good prize for the Frenchmen. Nor must I omit to mention, as an instance of their fidelity, that, though they had information of some more of the enemy being in the neighbourhood, and though burning to serve them as they had done their fel lows, they would not leave me till they saw me ready to enterthe boat that was to carry me from their protection. This leads me to notice their hatred to the French.' This is boundless and unquenchable. The very name of a Frenchman converts the • counte nance of the Cossack from being the throne of benevolence into the seat of fury. Nay, so ter rible is their hate that it is not satisfied with the inflictions of this world, hut would extend them • even to the next. A Cossack, who observed in a house in Bremen a picture of the death of Christ, after attentively considering it for some timeotnd devoutly crossing himself before it, exclaimed, in his broken German, to the by-standers Jesus ChriSt caput tar mid), caput fur dich,—nix caput fttr Fransos :" " Jesus Christ died for me and Ton —but not for Frenchmen 1." • • Nor is their furious prowess in battle their most valuable quality as a soldier. Their. vigi lance and acuteness,—'.'leir intelligence in pro .curing information, and their indefatigable' astir vity„ are most conspicuous. Their wonderfu] marches are universally known. General TET. TENBoaN declared, that if the Emperor ALR7O - ANDER would permit him to join Lord WEL.I.Io : TON, nothing would give him greater . pleasure than to pass through France and unjte at the foot of the Pyrennees, -with a General 1 ' It is customary in Germany to give the horses Inead in steal of corn. ..... ; 4T119:11 i II of VeVenXit Con dens as beti . 7bild dii :fic ri st in Buiope.. With 5000 Cossaeks, be v! ufidertalte - this bold manoeuvre ; and, in when we Consider that the celerity of thejr molts nearly. equals the usual ing intelligence, thei6 is great feasibility in th(i project. In- their living . , .thtxCossack s are very 'gross iii theft diet, and cohniiit great eicesseS In drinkho.: The quantity of spirits they swallow without in= toxication is truly astonishing, It was picturestlue (or rather grotesque) enough :to see my escoilL ride Mounted in through the large doors of ill; most every house on the road, "and, Swal4 lowing their glass of snaps each, gallop out•agaiii, and pursne their journey • But one of the uk remarkable circumstances in the ruanyeis of the CossaAs, is their wonderiul . patience and betrdi : - . hOod in enduring- all inclemencies . of vi- a thi.r. Never, by any-chance,. do they sleep ih a house; but, stretched'on a few handfuls of straw beside . their hofzes) and covered with their usual cloth ing, they spend the night in every climate and season. The camp, or hager of the Cossacks is a curious' scene. Those .1 saw at Verden and Bretnerywere constructed in the following manner. From the nearest hedge they cut, with their swords, branches six or o:l,ht feet long. One em. of these they forced into the ground at an angle of ahmtt sixty degreeS, and continueil planting them in this manner close to one another so as to form a large circular fold or pen, leaviag a small pp for a door. These branches they then closely interwove with straw of the thickness to keep out a moderate degree of wind or rain. These -stakes are of course inclined inwards, mill friiat this cirsumstarice, as well as from the quantity of straw they employ, it.is•obvions_ that one hai(at least of this circle Avill he tolerably sheltered frogs the weather. Around this all their pikes are snick, in the ground, and look, at a lit:le distance ) like a grove of leagess saplings., Their horses also ard stationed close by them, sometimes tied to a tree, but more comthonly lett too - se -For the Cossack, dearly as he loves his horse, thinks it quite sutfi-z cient that he fares as %yell as his master ; and tic eordingly he alsO never enters a? 'house, unless when, as I have already said, he bears his lord to be regaled with a gliass of snaps. In this also the habits (11 the horse and rider correspond, that the horse is never unsaddled or stripped of -any of his furniture, any more than his master is of his ma nifold investitures. At night they - have al i wap large fires in the middle of these circles ; and it is very picturesque to see the flames ascending front the midst of their straw edifices, and the grizzly' band of warriors seated around them on t,le ground, recounting, perhaps with the wildest gestures, tire feats of their fathers or themselves.- And, in fact, the saute narrative may easily in clude the actions' bf son and lire toe nothing is .more common than to see the offspring of two, and even three, generations in the stne troop. Among the very troops now under CTenetal TEr- TENBORN, there is a reverend white-bet,rded pa triarch 0106 years of age, whose ,sons and grand sotid, to a considerably. number, all follow the footsteps of their s'airtly sire !--Besides these roofless pens, some of the more luxuriant Cos sacks sdmetimes erect little straw huts covered top :—but this is only when they have much lei. sure, and are likely to remain in the same place for a considerable time. But I must, perforce, finish this terrible epistle, else von will henceforth dread my quill as ranch as a • Frttliehman dreads the spear of a cossack. — I shall, therefore, forbear adding to your labours by a limg string 6f apologies for bad writimt', in correct style, &c. &c. To be candid, 1 think I 'd serve no small degree of praise for having perided so much time and paper, solely, my dear Sir, for your edcation . . I • remain,sdear Sir,, With aching bead and cramped fingers, Your's truly, * * * His Majesty's ship --, River Elbe, Dee. I, 1813. BREAD.—This day the LORD MAYOR, after in specting. the MealweigherS returns, ordered that an advance of one halfpenny on the quarters loaf should bike place on Thursday next: An application was made to the City Coal and Corn Committee, on Saturday, to permit sokne coal-ships, that had been got into the . West India. Docks, to. unload there, for the benefit of to e public. The LORD CHANCELLOR still remains confined to his Louse litith the gout in both' his feet. All Petitions for Private Bills left at the Par liament-Office with the Clerk, on or hefoYels=s day the 15th day of February next, will be re ceived on Tuesday the Ist day of March next ; the. day appointed for the House of Lords to,meet. The following anecdote does such honour •to the sentiment and feelin of the Russian arn.)7. and its Commanders, that we arc pleased to hare an opportunity of giving it a place in our Jour nal •--" W 1 on their march between Rastatlt avid Baden, they approached the place where the great TURENNE was killed. The no less illustrious MOREAU had, in one of his campaigns, ny:irked the spot• by a simple monument. In front of this monument the Russian Imperial Guards mounted 'a guard of honour during the whole of the. 24 hours that the troops were passing.. The n,strc h past the monument was conducted with drums beating ancl,, bands playing. This anecdote nv - ,y be relied-on, and would, of itself, be a refutation of the odious , epithet of barbarians, with whi.7ll that real barbarian, BoONAPARTIS, has dared to designate'his congutrors of the North." A SKAITING ANRCDOTE.--A. few clays since' . a tradesman of -Bath ltaving, ventured on the Ken net and Avon Canal, they ice near one.of the 'feeders giving way, he was soused nearly to his middle in the water,. to the no small morimeut of the spectators, as no material injury accrued. A sand-boy being told that it was Mr. the tailor, who was thus immersed, archly remarked, as the unfortunate drippler passed by, " Measter, you had better been at home minding you hot goose than ha' oet! , .,k .t . hkre for a cold dtick.".