The Sun. — London, England, 1853-12-16 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL DRURY-LAVE. Lessee, )Ir. E. T. Snuth. THIS EVENING, DEc. 16, The GREAT AMERICAN EQUESTRIANS will exhibit their itAto n idling Feats, unmatched in the history of such Performances, assisted by the most renowned Gymnastic Artistes, 0. Dale and Barnes, the European and American champions. To render the termination of the Equestrian Season equal in attraction to its commencement, Mr. T. Smith has engaged Herr Rengler, the most accomplished Tight-Rope Dancer in the World. Mona. Desaire's Troupe of Performing Dogs and Monkeys every Evening. Reduced Prices as usual. THEATRE. ROYAL, ILtYMARKET. Under the management of Mr. Enckstone. THIS EVENING, DEC. 16, Will be performed THE HOPE OF THE FAMILY. Characters by Messrs. Compton, Chippendale, and Buckstone ; Miss E. Grey, end Mrs. Fitzwilliam. To be followed .by A PRETTY PIECE OF BUSINESS. Cha racters by Messrs. Howe and Buckstoue ; Miss Reynolds and Mrs. itzwilliam. To conclude with ANY PORT IN A STORM. Character s b y ]theses E. Ormonde and Featherstone. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET. tnf.er the Manage:nent of Mr. CHABLIS KEAN. THIS EVENING, DEc. 16, Wlll be performed THE DAY AFTER TUE WEDDING. Sup ported by Mr. and Mrs. W. Lacy. After which, L'rd Byron's Tragedy of SARD XN %PALM% con eiderehly abridged for stage representation. Principal characters by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean. To conclude with DEAF AS A POST. Principal character by Mr. Harley. LYCEUM THEATRE. Under the Management of Madame Vestria. THIS EVENING, DEC. 16, Will be performed A BACHELOR OF ARTS. Characters by Messrs. C. Mathews, F. Matthews, and Balker; Miss F. Hughes. After which, THE COMMENCEMENT OF A BAD FARCE which, however (It is hoped), will. in the end, show HOW TO MAKE HOME HAPPY. Principal character by Mr. Wright. To be followed by A NICE FIRM. Principal characters by Messrs. C. Mathews, F. Matthews, and Mrs. F. Matthews. To conclude with WRIGHT AT LAST. THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI. Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster.—Directress. Madame Celeste. THIS EVENING, DEC. 16, • Will be performed TILE THIRST OF GOLD; or, The Lost Ship. Characters by Messrs. B. Webster, F. Bedford, and Keeley ; and Madame Celeste. To be followed by WHITEBAIT AT GREENWICH How . to Cook To conclude with " HOTEL CHARG ES !" or, "A Blinn." ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Wigan. THIS EVENLNG, DEC. 16 , Will be performed PLOT AND PASSION. Principal characters by Mr. F. Robson Ind Mrs. Stirling. THE CAMP AT THE OLYMIPIC. Muse- Messrs To be followed by Emery,. F. RotiAon, Oooper, and Galli ; b. Wigan , Mesdames A. Wigan. Stirling, I . Horton, Chatterley, E. Turner, and Wyndham. To-conclude with THE WINDERING MINSTREL. AsTLEY'S EUROPE'S NATIONAL AMPIIITIIEITRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. W. Cooke, THE PERFORMING ELEPHANTS have achieved the most Brilliant Triumph ever accomplished within the walls of this Great Amphitheatre.—Night after night the audience, by universal ac clamation have recalled them, and amid increased wonder and deafening plaudits, the Elephants have re-appeared and repeated their most Wondrous Feats. TIIIS EVENING, DEC. 16, (And during the week), • The New Grand Equestrian Chinese Spectacle, entitled " THE WISE ELEPHANTS OF TUE EAST; or THE MAGIC GONG." Followed by a series of Mr. Wm. Cooke'• matchless scenes of Equestrianism in THE CIRCLE, by the talented artistes of this establishment. Concluding with a favourite AFTERPIECE. Box-office open trom Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W. West. DAILY WEATHER TABLE. FRIDAY, DEC. 16, 1853. State of the wind and weather at each of the following places at nine o'clock yesterday morning. The stations are arranged in order of latitude. TUNBRIDGE—N., strong breeze—snow. G RE ENWICH—N.W., gentle breeze—snow. SWINDON—N.E., fresh breeze—cloudy. CAMBRIDGE—N., stroll.. breeze—snow. BIRMINGFIAM—N.W., strong breeze—snow. YARMOUTH—E., heavy gale—snow. The returns from the following places indicate the state of the weather on Wednesday morning at nine o'clock : LIMERICK—N 2 calm —cloudless. Mu LLIN GA R calm—partially cloudy. FOLKESTONE—N.E., gentle breeze -partially cloudy. TUN BUIDGE—N.E., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. GREENWICH—N.E., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. Srnoon—N.E., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. CAMBRIDGE—S. E., fresh breeze —cloudy. YARMOUTH—E., storm—cloudless. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tuts DAY —Morning 17 min.after 2 I Evening 33 min.aft. 2 To-Moaaow—Morning 53 min.after 2 1 Evening 10 min.aft. 3 OFFItld, DEC. 16. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 37—highest since noon yesterday. 33 --lowest this morning and during the night. 35 —this day at noon. BAROMETER, 29'41. WIND, N.N.W.—Light breeze, with fine, cold weather. 41., . ,•,:: : .: 4.:: N e .,.., _ I Cal I 1 ..., 5.,,4., •___J . l's,d4' ; .,t' a., ` ,— H ., ;' - ',:...:; 6 ' , -, LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1853. RESIGNATION OF LORD PALMERSTON. ViSCAllit PALMERSTON has once more, by an abrupt resignation, threatened the disruption of a Government. The intelligence of his withdrawal from the Coalition came upon the public mind this morning with the startling effect of a thunder bolt. It instinctively reminded every one at once of the memorable circumstance which fol lowed hard upon a similar proceeding, when the breaking up of the RUSSELL Cabinet rapidly super vened upon the then Foreign Secretary's retire ment from that most effete, used-up, and unpopu lar Administration. It could not but be instantly remembered, moreover, that precisely about this time last year occurred the downfall and dispersion of the DERBY Government. So that twelve months have scarcely elapsed before this country is hurriedly called upon to witness the falling to pieces of that elaborately-constructed Cabinet, which was held together solely by the bonds of expediency, and was built up on that most unstable of all foundations for a Minis try—the shifting sands of every imaginable opinion, and of every unimaginable dereliction of principle. Everything in the shape of a political difficulty was to be dissipated by the Coalition. That almost fabulous concentration into a single focus of all the lights of All the Talents of all the statesmen of our generation was to scatter away the mists of anxiety which had, during seve ral years previously, been gathering over the nation at large from all points of the political hori zon. Thanks to the magnanimity of the different personages of note who consented, with such sur prising alacrity, to act together under the Earl of ABERDEEN'S chieftainship the citizens of the British Empire were to exult in the possession of a powerful, energetic, sagacious, and beneficent Government. It mattered nothing that that re markable group of public men, making up by the union of their authority the fasces of the Execu tive, comprised individuals who had been opposed to each other in contentions distinguished at the time by an apparently implacable bitterness—it signified little that the Premier of the Emergency summoned around him to the same council-board statesmen whose minds were coloured by every shade of party-p r i nciple, Whigs, Tories, Radicals, Peelites, Catiningites, innovators, retrograders, Co user vative-Liberals, and Liberal-Conservati ves —an universal and domin ant sense of patriotism was to evoke order out of the chaos, concord out of the dissonance, unity out of the confusion. A state miracle was t o b e per formed. Lord ABERDEEN was going to conjure in some mysterious manlier with the green-box of office, and the seals, and the red-tape. England was to be ruled by a hocus pocits. The watch word of the presiding power was to be a sort of Abracadabra. Well—the country, since then, has been waiting six, eight, ten, twelve months in eager expectation. And now, after all these delays, after all these fair promises, after all these confident assurances that there has been a perfect accord, where impartial observers could only be lieve there were disunions the moat complete and differences the in,;st irrecf - Alcilcable--cilles the THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1853. news on this 16th of December of Lord PAL MERSTON' S resignation. It is anxiously insisted upon by the acknow ledged organ of the Coalition—before any one could have a chance of saying a word upon the subject—that the retirement from office of the Noble Lord the Chief Secretary for the Home De partment has nothing whatever to do with any matter at all connected with our foreign relations. It is maintained that the Noble Viscount has been induced to make that extraordinary movement — extraordinary by its decision and its abruptness — not because of anything having reference to what is called the Eastern Question, this great and em barrassing Russo-Turkish difficulty. Nothing of the kind ! says the official organ of the Coali tion, going eagerly and breathlessly out of its way to say so—but solely and exclusively upon a question of internal policy, upon the question of the propriety or impropriety, of the value or of the worthlessness of the long-promised, and longer expected Reform Bill, preparing under the auspices of Lord JOHN RUSSELL. Now, candidly, we do not credit that Viscount PALMERSTON has been in no manner influenced by events now transpiring beyond the Levant, in thus abruptly tendering his resignation to his SOVEREIGN. The peculiarity of the occasion se lected by him for that notable step is of itself altogether too significant to allow of any implicit credence being placed in this specious, but suspi cious, explanation thrust upon the public no tice by the organ of the ABERDEEN Government. Immediately the dawdling and timorous policy adopted by the Coalition in regard to the quarrel between the Sublime Porte and the AUTOCRAT has reached its climax, Lord PALMERSTON sends in his resignation. Scarcely has intelligence arrived of the deplorable victories of the Russians—the victory gained by sea at Sinope, and that by land at Akalsik when the Home Secre tary intimates his withdrawal from the ranks of the Government. Undoubtedly there is but too much reason to believe that the people can scarcely expect to find a cordial and energetic parliamentary reformer in Lord PALMER STON. Although that distinguished statesman shares in the glory of participation in the tri umph of the Bill of 1831—he is recognised as altogether too much of a Canningite to be very much of a Reformer. We don't, therefore, imply that the official organ of Aberdeenism is speaking , idly or at random, much less to its own knowledge, erroneously, or perversely in as suming that Viscount PA LMERSTON is, if anything, decidedly averse to any " large measure," such as that tantalisingly adumbrated in the half-promise given to his constituents at Carlisle a year or so back by the Right Hon. Baronet the First Lord of the Admiralty. The truth in that respect is already but too generally understood and too long suspected. As ultra- Reformers--as ardent aspirants for the organisa tion of the system of the Ballot, for the exten sion of the elective franchise, for the redistri bution of the electoral districts—as advocates (neither indifferent nor of yesterday) of these and other considerable innovations —we can only discover reason to regret the absence of liberality, of energy, and of determination in Lord PALMERSTON in his character as a half-and half Reformer. Therefore, of course, we can find only too much cause to believe that the Noble Viscount has but a narrow and partial sympathy with the project of supplementary reform now pre paring under the care of the Member for the City of London, to be presented during the session of 1854 for the acceptance or refttsal of the Legislature. But—what we cannot credit for one instant, is the explanation put forward this morning in the avowed and recognised organ of the Coalition, in reference to this sudden and mysterious resignation of Lord PALMERSTON, in the assertion that that withdrawal of the Home Secretary from her MAJESTY'S Go vernment has no reference whatever to the foreign policy of the ABERDEEN Administration. To believe this would be to throw aside the whole of Lord PAL MERSTON'S most memorable antecedents. In other words, it would be absolutely preposterous. Speak ing plainly upon this point, it must be pronounced altogether absurd to suppose that Lord PALMER STON'S genius, and daring, and wisdom, and con sistency as a diplomatist, has not revolted from the policy of England throughout this Russo- Turkish difference, as a policy most base, because most pusillanimous. That policy has compli cated a very simple contest between Right and Might into a quarrel that has been gradually dragging into its chaos the principal Powers of Western Christendom. It has caused the combined fleets of France and England, after protracted delays, to appear at last in the waters of Constantinople. Under what pretext ? Under the pretext of preventing a collision between Russia and Turkey a pretext which, if sincerely, and honestly, and seriously en tertained, would have induced France and England to send military assistance to the Turks on the banks of the Danube, as well as maritime assistance to them in the channel of the Bospho rus. Maritime assistance ! say we ? Assistance that amounts to absolutely no assistance what ever ! Assistance that if real would have pre vented this terrible catastrophe at Sinope in stead of allowing the Turkish sailors there to be slaughtered wholesale, and OSMAN PACHA, after a most heroic resistance, to be carried off prisoner to Sebastopol, and then sending a couple of sneaking frigates into the Black Sea --to carry medical help to the wounded, and to obtain information ! Assist ance call we this ? Assistance to Turkey would imply something vastly different. It would mean the entrance of the combined fleets in full force into the Euxine, their resolute seizure of Sebastopol, the occupation of the Cri mea, the bombardment of Rherson, and the of and Ode m ssa ar , iti a ni n e d . a u i p d transmission of militaryNvay to OMER PACHA by the current of the Danube to Braila, and across to Bucharest. Instead of which we have had the dropping of French and British anchors in Besika Bay, and afterwards in the Waters of Constanti nople. Hence—more than from any lack of in terest in the new Reform Bill this sudden withdrawal of Lord PALMERSTON from the Coalition Government. Modern experience has ascertained beyond the possibility of doubt that nothing so greatly en hances tho value of property in any district as the affording facilities for inter-communication--or, in other words, for goods and passenger traffic. We believe that if not a single shilling were returned as profit by any railway iu the United Kingdom that their construction would still have been the most beneficial and useful work, in a national point of view, that had been effected during many successive ages. By their means the farmer is enabled to effect the great object of every large producer and large consumer—namely, to buy in the cheapest and to sell in the dearest market. I He can supply supply his own wants on the most reason able while he is equally certain of finding purchasers, at fair prices, for all that he does not require for his own use. He can double, or even quadruple, his crops by procuring manures cal culated to " bring his land into heart," and to in crease its fertility to the highest point of produc tiveness. At the same time nothing goes to waste. He can send off every superfluity, and bring back its value. The trucks that convey the various kinds of agricultural produce to mar kets where there is an increasing demand, at re munerative prices, will not return empty. C oa l s , culm, and innumerable other articles of inestima ble value to the farmer will be brought to his very threshold at moderate charges. We may, in fact, sum up in concise terms the advantages of the railway system, by stating that without its aid it is absolutely impossible that the natural capabili ties of a district can be fully or fairly developed, and that the vicinity of a judiciously-conducted and well-regulated railway is calculated to increase the permanent value of all the land within an easy distance of its stations. It would then, as we have already stated, be well worth the while of the owners and occupiers of land in any locality to have railway accommo dation supplied at their own expense, without looking to any return save that which would be obtained from the improved value of their pro perties or holdings. Generally speaking, how ever, there was no necessity for any such exer tion. Capitalists could be found to undertake the necessary outlay without making any claim upon the purses of either landlords or tenants, looking merely to the traffic for an adequate return for their investments. Men about to invest money in such undertakings looked, of course, chiefly, if not altogether, to the probable traffic, from which they might form a tolerably accurate estimate as to the dividend to be anticipated. The value of the line to the district was only taken into calcu lation to this extent, viz., as to the reception which it would receive from those whose lands might be required, so that no vexatious opposition would be offered or exorbitant prices demanded. No other expectation was indulged in, and some of the most important works of national utility were planned and completed entirely by private enter prise, through which the magnificent iron net work by which England is intersected was con structed. But while so much was effected for England, Wales was comparatively neglected. Wealthy in dividuals occasionally made short tram-ways or even railways for their own accommodation, but that was all, and with the exception of the Ches ter and Holyhead, and South Wales, no trunk lines of railway traversed the Principality, and yet it afforded the most auspicious channels for such speculations. Its mineral wealth should long since have directed attention to this promising but hitherto neglected country. Its agricultural capa bilities, too, when properly developed, would alone yield ample returns, while those who have visited its magnificent scenery, and hold in grateful recollection the unostentatious hospitalities and genuine kindliness of disposition of the descend ants of the ancient Britons, will require no argu ments to convince them that the tourist +traffic will form no inconsiderable item in the balance sheet of any company that may be formed for the purpose of affording the much-required facilities to these picturesque regions. We rejoice to find that the "want " so sensibly experienced is about to be supplied in the most judicious manner by the formation of " the Car marthen and Cardigan Railway and Cardigan Harbour Improvement Company." We have in deed seldom seen a prospectus combining so many national and commercial advantages as that to which it is our pleasing duty to direct public at tention. It may, indeed, be described as a. work of humanity as well as of utility. " A Harbour of Refuge will be provided for the shipping of all nations, lying nearly midway between Milford Haven and Holyhead Harbour, and shelter afforded to the numerous vessels trading to and from Liver pool and the northern ports to the south, in - eluding the whole of the American commerce, and that to Bristol, and other English southern ports." Property to an enormous amount and many valuable lives will thus be preserved. Some esti mate may be formed on this point from the simple fact that no less than fourteen thousand ships averaging 500 tons burden, " an nually sail through the Bay of Cardigan, and pass by the mouth of the port, not one of which at present can find shelter in the event of bad weather, between Holyhead and Milford Haven, a distance of upwards of 100 miles !" The chief danger of one hundred miles of perilous coast navigation will thus be averted. It is needless to point out the advantages that will result to the Company, viewing the matter merely through a X. s. d. medium from this circumstance. But it is no less desirable if regarded in an agricultural or a mineral point of view. Lime, coal, and culm could be supplied. in vast quan tity to a district containing no less than 2,000 square miles, or 1,280,000 acres, all of which re quires lime as a manure—from which they are now debarred from the enormous cost of con veyance. The country abounds in coal, slate, silver, lead, copper ores, and agricultural produce of every description, all which could be supplied to the manufacturing, and even to the metropolitan dis tricts, as well as the teeming produce from the south of Ireland. It would, indeed, be impossible to com prise, or even to allude, within the limits to which we are necessarily restricted, to the numerous bene fits arising from the construction of a line which, when completed, will form by many miles the shortest route between London and Dublin, and which will have the almost exclusive traffic be tween Waterford and Wexford, and England and Wales. Suffice it to say, that although the very moderate estimates show that 7i- per cent. may be confidently anticipated by the shareholders, the mere dividends are the least important feature iu one of the most important lines that has been projected mince the introduction of the railway system into the United Kingdom. COURT CIRCULAR. OSBORNE, DEC. 15. The Earl of Aberdeen is expected to arrive to-day on a visit to her Majesty. The Hon. Colonel and Mrs. Grey had the honour of being invited to dinner yesterday. Mr. Gisborne had an interview with Viscount Pal merston on Wednesday at the Home•office. The Earl of Aberdeen left town yesterday morning for Osborne, Isle of Wight. Yesterday morning a funeral service was cele brated in the Catholic church of the Bavarian embassy, Warwick-street, Golden-square, for the repose of the soul of her late Majesty the Queen of Portugal. The service was sung and high mass was performed by Fathers Bambor and M‘Guyer. Invitations were sent by the Portuguese Minister to all the representatives of the Sovereigns who are related by consanguinity or affinity with the august de ceased, as well as to the Portuguese and Brazilians resident in London. The deceased was sister of her late Imperial Highness the Princess Maria Amelia, sister of the Emperor of Brazil. The church was most numerously attended. The Duke and Duchess of Hamilton and their youthful family have arrived at Hamilton, from Brodick Castle, Isle of Woran, en route to the south. The Grand Duchess Stephane, of Baden, her grace's maternal parent, who has been visiting the Emperor Louis Napoleon and his Empress, has left Paris, with her suite, for her chateau, near Mannheim, Germany. The Duke and Duchess of Wellington, we under stand, have left Lisbon for Madrid, en route to Paris, where our Ambassador at Court (Lord Cowley) will enter tain their graces at a splendid banquet at the Embassy, in the Rue Faubourg St. Honore, previous to their return to London. Her Catholic Majesty was understood to receive the noble duke and duchess at a private audience at the Palace, and we have reason to believe that the Spanish estates conferred on our late honoured chieftain for his victories in the Peninsula will be continued to the present duke. The Count and Countess de FlahaUlt leave town on Saturday, on a visit to the Marquis of Lansdowne at Bowood. His Excellency the Ambassador of France and the Countess Walewski leave town on Saturday, on a visit to the Marquis of Lansdowne, at Bowood. - - • On Wednesday last the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury entertained a large circle of friends, at their country mansion, Hatfield House , Herts , including the Earl and Countess of Verulam, Earl and Countess De La war and the Lady Arabella. Sack dile West, Lord and Lady Rokeby and the Hon. Misses Montagu, Dowager Lady Cowley, Marquis of Lothian, Viscount Grey de Wilton, Lord Bingham, Captain the Hon. and Mrs. Mortimer West and Miss Dallas, the Hon. and Rev. Gerald Wellesley, the Hon. William Wellesley, Mr. Hay Drummond, Mr. H. C. Johnson, Mr. Grosvenor, Sir William Fraser, Bart. In the evening, her ladyship received all the leading fami lies of the county, and dancing was kept up until a late hour. - - We are much gratified in being able to state that Lord Feversham has, in the most benevolent spirit, given to the Leicester-square Soup-kitchen, Ham-yard, Great Windmill-street, a fine ox, exhibited by his lordship at the cattle show, and weighing 170 stones, as his contribution to the Christmas dinner to be distributed to the necessitous poor by that institution. We hope this truly Christian example will be followed by thoso who have it in their power to promote the comfort and enjoyment of their fel low-creatures at this festive se&zon• (From tire Times.) There is something in the month of December which seems uniformly to make Lord Palmerston unmanageable. The constellation which presides over the winter solstice must predominate in his horoscope. December, 1851, saw Lord Palmerston separate from the Whig Ministry, with which ho acted for five years; December, 1852, witnessed his coalition with the heads of the same party with which lie had quar relled only a year before; and now, December, 1853, beholds a new breach between Lord Palmerston and his allies. The disease of breaking up Cabinets seems with him to have as sumed a chronic form. There is an old Greek proverb which warns us to love as if we were about to hate, and no man has acted up to the precept b e tt e r than ie nobleman whose loss to the Coalition Ministry we this morning an nounce. In 1851, Lord Palmerston was separated from his friends because he was indiscreetly hasty in his zeal to approve the absolutist revolution of the 2d of De cember. In 1853 he quits the service of the public because he cannot induce himself to support even a moderate scheme of constitutional reform. In both cases he has been actuated by anti-Liberal principles, and yet we shall not be surprised to hear and read that in him the Cabinet has lost one of the most enlightened and Liberal statesmen it possessed. This delusion as to Lord Palmerstons's real principles and feelings is not altogether his own fault, but rather that of the ultra party in this country, which insists on foisting upon him qualifications to which, as far as we are aware, he never made the slightest pretension. It has been the fashion among the Radicals to represent Lord Palmerston, in home as well as in foreign affairs, as an ultra-Liberal statesman ; and many have been the speculations* for rallying under him the more ad vanced sections of Reformers. To do Lord Palmerston justice, these delusions have never been of his ;wising. Affable man ners, a frank and pleasing address, and a singular dexterity in seizing and turning to his purpose the topics of the clay, have invested him with much personal popularity ; but no one even superficially acquainted with Lord Palmerston's history could draw from it any augury favourable to these versions of ultra- Liberal tendencies. Lord Palmerston commenced public life under the Ministries of Mr. Percival and Lord Liverpool, and in this high Tory school he imbibed principles which he has never wholly abandoned, and which seem to have regained their original force over his mind in proportion as he ap proaches the goal of his political career. The Liberalism of Lord Palmerston, such as it has been, has never outrun—nay, has barely kept pace with—the demands of the age. In 1851 he quarrelled with his colleagues in the cause of absolutism against constitutional government, and he has now resigned, not from any difference of opinion on momentous questions of foreign policy, but because he cannot make up his mind to reform in any shape—to enfranchisement or disfranchisement, to any extension of the suffrage, or any removal of those small and corrupt boroughs which still disgrace our constitution. Like the Duke of Wellington in 1830, Lord Palmerston is against all reform, and resigns his place because he will not form part of a Reforming Ministry. We do not feel disposed to comment on this withdrawal in any spirit of bitterness or repining. We have never believed ! Lord. Palmerston to be that which Finsbury and Marylcbone have so often insisted on making him. By his secession the Ministry have lost a most accomplished gentleman, au able debater, a skilful and practised master of official business; but the Liberal cause has lost nothing. We believe that among all living statesmen Lord Palmerston is the only re presentative left of those Tory principles which once formed the dominant creed of politicians in and out of Parliament. The very zeal which Lord Palmerston has displayed for a liberal policy abroad, and for social improvement at home, has often seemed to us the product of a mind anxious to di vert attention from organic changes by concentrating it on topics less dangerous and less exciting. The habit of mind of a Minister for Foreign Affairs regarding all changes in our Government rather as they would affect our influence abroad than promote harmony and progress at home, and the dread of weakening the Executive by rendering our external rela tions subordinate, like our domestic affairs, to the direction of Parliament, and have tended to increase these anti-Liberal predilections. No one weighs his words more warily than Lord Palmerston, and when he told us in the autumn that the present was an age not of reform but of im provement, we believe that he gave utterance to his own sin cere conviction, and at the same time showed the direction in which he was anxious to turn the minds of his colleagues and the public. Sanitary reform, corporation reform, the purifi cation of our air and our river, were regarded by him, we imagine, as so many diversions by which the public mind might"be drawn off from the perilous contemplation of organic changes. We believe Lord Palmerston to be a Tory of the old school, such as Canning was in his earlier and middle life. Instructed by experience, willing to concede much to popular will, ready to deal with minor abuses, but resolute to with stand any attempt to extend the changes to which he was au unwilling party in 1831, he sincerely holds the doctrine of finality which Lord John Russell professed. Wo may regret the loss to the Ministry of so brilliant a colleague, but we cannot for a moment wish that in the Coalition Government such principles should have been in the ascendant, nor feel otherwise than rejoiced that in his hostility to all reform Lord Palmerston was left without a seconder. However willing we may be to do justice to Lord Palmer ston's motives, there are circumstances connected with his resignation which seem to stamp it in some degree with wan tonness and caprice. It seems inexplicable that, having worked stop by step with the committee of the Cabinet ap pointed to prepare the bill, it should only have been at the conclusion of their labours that ho made known his funda mental objection to any scheme of reform. It is also at least unfortunate that this secession should have the appearance of being levelled against Lord John Russell, the author and originator of the measure, but also the cause of Lord Palmerston's withdrawal from the late Ministry. The proper time to intimate his aversion to reform would have been when Lord John Russell, in answer to Mr. Locke King's motion, solemnly pledged the Go vernment to the introduction of a measure, and not after the heads of that measure had been considered and elaborated by himself. But most of all have we a right to complain that Lord Palmerston should have chosen the pre sent momentous crisis of our foreign affairs to take a step which might have the effect of exhibiting before the eyes of foreign. nations even the faintest semblance of disunion in our • councils. If war can be averted, it can only be by throwing into the scale the full and undivided weight of our public men, and it is not the part of a patriotic Minister to weaken our influence at such a moment. Although Lord Palmerston has resigned on grounds of purely domestic policy, there will not be wanting journalists and diplomatists to represent his resignation as a triumph of the pacific over the warlike ele ment in our councils. There was no necessity for so precipi tate a step. We regret to loss our Horne SJcretary. but we should regret still more to keep him on his own terms. SOUTH AUSTRAIIAN COPPER MINING COMPANY. The copper fields of Australia look well, and bid fair in future times to rival the more promising production of gold in those splendid regions. We have on former occasions directed public attention to the South Australian Copper Mining Company, and it will be seen, by the following extracts from accounts just received, that our anticipations aro in a fair way of being realised : " I am happy to have to inform you that we duly arrived at this place on the 24th ult., after a 94 days' passage, and that I at once proceeded to report myself and staff, and to make arrangements with the bankers according to your in structions, and was glad to find on calling on Messrs. Elder, that Dr. Rankin was then in town, with whom I immediately proceeded to Strathalbyn. " I find that you possess an undoubtedly good mineral pro perty in Strathalbyn, and one which properly and carefully worked will I think amply remunerate you for all outlay that you may make upon it. " Owing to the recent extremely heavy rains it has been utterly impossible to attempt to fork the water which is in the shafts, in order to see the bottoms, and that all I can at present do is to confirm the reports of Messrs. Pascoe and Frewartha, as far as the surface goes, although I have no doubt that I shall find the lode still standing, as they describe, in the bottom. " The property consists, as you have been correctly in formed, of about 650 acres, the greater part of which, is most excellent wheat-land, and would readily sell for 4/. or Si. per acre. The whole of the neighbourhood produces wheat of the very finest description, and the wheat at Mount Barker (but a few miles from us) took the prize at the Exhibition of 1851. Should our mine, as I anticipate, prove a prosperous concern, the value of our surface land will, of course, greatly increase. "In the southern part of the set, on turning the sod, we come upon a fine bed of limestone? and, in our northern section, we have some of the best building stone which I have as yet seen in the colony. The creek through our land has, lam very glad to learn, continued to run for the last two years through the whole of the summer. " The lodes ou this property have been costeaned upon in many places, and everywhere show most promising backs and extremely well defined walls, together with good stones of ore. The stratum is a kindly nucaceous slate, changing in the southern parts into a more decided light-coloured killas. This stratum is overlaid to the cast by sandstone, and there are on tho property several hills consisting of large boils of lode stuff, very similar in formation to the hills of auriferous matter which I have seen on the gold fields at Echunga, and elsewhere, and which are comprised of loose quartz and iron stone, fluccan, clay, and fine gossan. In several places through the property springs of water, strongly impregnated with metallic salts, are breaking from the back of the lode, which entirely destroy all vegetation near, and I am having a lobby taken up to intersect the lode at one of these places, where I think we are very likely to find a good deposit of ore. " The ore at grass consists of blue and green carbonates, some black oxide (the rest having been carried away by the rains), some red oxide, a rich coated yellow sulphuret, and a poorer description of yellow sulphuret mixed with a good deal of muudic. There is also a great deal of the grey sul phuret both mixed with the iron with which this property abounds and by itself. I may hero state that we have some very rich hamatite iron ore in various places. lam also con fident that we possess a good portion of silver in some parts of the lode, and I do not by any means give up the hope that we may find gold upon our laud, although two samples of very promising quartz and gossan, which I brought back with me to town, do not (if I am to believe 'the only assayer here) give any yield. However, when Mr. W. Thomp son has erected his assay-office, I shall feel more confidence in the result of the trials. " This ore at grass is turning out better and bettor every day as we ate gradually cleaning up the floors and turning and parting the piles, and, moreover, every examination of burrows shows that more ore is concealed in them. " I can at present safely say that we have at least 180 tons of from 10 to 11 produce, and I shall not be surprised at the amount proving to be much larger. " The houses and other buildings on tho mine are in some what dilapidated condition, but Captain Dunstan, whom I have located on the spot, is proceeding vigorously to make them habitable. The smelting furnace is in pretty good order, and I have a smelter now engaged in preparing it, and in making a new bottom, who will, when that is done, com mence regulising the ores at grass. I shall thus be enabled to ship you some 50 or 60 tons of good regulus of a produce of say 40 to 42 per cent., and before he has finished this I hope to have got the shafts in fork, and to be supplying him with ore by breaking from the levels. " I am very happy to be enabled to state that miners are the most plentiful class of operatives here. I have engaged 4 miners from the Burra (who have returned unsuccessful from the diggings) at 21. per week, and I could get 20 more if I require them at the same rate. Mr. Forster, the manager of the South Australian Company's Mines at Tungkillo and at Reedy Creek, informs me that iu a month or two from this time we shall be enabled to get as many men as wo like at 71. per month, or even lower, and the men are returning fast to Kapunda. " There is here a duty of 51. per cent. on all machinery and manufactured goods imported, and even more than that on bar iron and other portions of the cargo; this will alone use up more than 5001. more that we calculated upon. " I forgot to mention that we have at least 2501. or 3001. worth of fire wood (at present prices) stacked on the property ready for use. " I am, of course, in receipt of the drawings and duplicate letter per the Victoria (which arrived before ourselves, but the original letter and seconds of bill of exchange, and letters of credit per the Stratford have not, as yet, come to hand tTere. There are dreadful complaints here of the shameful postal arrangements. " Since writing the above, I learn that the Caroline has just been signalled. When I have got the letter off by the Vic toria (which sails in half an hour) I will immediately go across the Izthnius s and bOard her in the gulf." From Widdin of November 30, we learn that the bridge there is finished, and unless hard frost should set in will enable all the boats and barges to ply between Widdin and the island. Supplies of wood are beginning Eto come in in sufficient quantities. Two regiments of cavalry ,1,800 men and horses), commanded by Mazher Pasha (son of Redschid Pashit), were brought to the Widdin side of the river, as no advance is contemplated into Little Wallachia at present, and stable accommodation being more abundant there, they Are of no use within the fortifications of Kalafat. Another version of the documents concocted by the Ambassadors of the four Powers at Vienna, and recently sent to the Porte, is given by the Berlin correspondent of the Times, who says The Ambassadors of the four Powers at Vienna have in the first instance signed a protocol, and afterwards a collective note, which they sent to Constantinople with the protocol. In these docu ments the Ambassadors point out the dangers which the war between Turkey and Russia may entail upon Europe, and justify their proceedings by pleading the interests of their respective coun tries, which might possibly suffer from a prolonga tion of the war. Hence the four Powers offer their good offices to reconcile the belligerent parties. They call attention to the fact that it is not the Czar's intention to violate the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, the maintenance of which is absolutely necessary for the preservation of the balance of power in Europe. And since the Sul tan, in his turn, has declared his willingness to ful fil the engagements contained in the treaties, the four. Powers have resolved upon asking him on what conditions he would be disposed to make peace." A private letter from Constantinople of the 30th ult. speaks of a desperate battle fought by the Rus sians on the banks of the Terek, to maintain their communications between Teflis and the Caspian Sea. The Russians lost a considerable number of men in this engagement, which produced no re sult. All the unsubdued tribes in Circassia and Georgia have risen in insurrection against the Russians. The Lloyd of Vienna states that the Austrian Consuls in the Ottoman Empire having taken Rus sian subjects there under their protection, the Porte requested the Austrian Cabinet to take under its protection Turkish subjects in Russia. The appli cation has been complied with, the Emperor of Russia having consented to the arrangement. The Augsburg Gazette has the following from St. Petersburg, dated the 30th ult. :—" A few days since the secretary of Prince Gortschakoff, a Pole named Rodzewitch, arrived here under escort, and was provisionally ocked up in the fortress. He is accused of having furnished to Omer Pacha the plan of campaign of the Russians. Another Pole em ployed on the staff has a similar charge laid against him. A young Polish medical officer has also gone over to the Turks. These facts seriously compromise the position of the Poles in the Russian service. Prince Gortschakoff intended at first to have had Rodzewitch shot, but afterwards decided on sending him to St. Petersburg in the hope that it might lead t 6 the discovery of other correspondence. The position of Prince Gortschakoff is a very difficult one at this moment. It was first in contemplation to give the chief command of the army to General Luders, the conqueror of Bem, and who is a L.reat favourite with the troops, but it was thought that this would have given offence to General Osten Sacken, who is his senior officer. General Rudi ger was then proposed, but the Emperor gave the preference to Prince Gortschakoff, because he bears a Russian name. It is stated that Prince Woron zoff, who is at present in a very bad state of health, and to whom report has given as a successor Prince Menschikoff (because it is not wished that he shall again appear as grand admiral), has, it is said, given information to the Government of con siderable malversations in the commissariat depart ment and of the soldiers being very badly fed. An aide-de-camp was sent to the spot, but he found everything in order, and General Woronzoff re ceived a very cool letter from St. Petersburg. He, however, insisted on the correctness of his state ment*, and a second aide-de-camp having been sent discovered the real state of affairs.'! The Paris correspondent of the Morning Herald thus comments on the affair at Sinope _ _ " Since the attack made on the Turkish vessels at Sinope public opinion has been showing itself more and more excited at the inaction of the fleets in the Bosphorus. Never, as you hear it said on all sides, have two great powers, able to command obedience to their behests, consented to appear in a position at once so ridiculous and so odious. They are at the entry of the Black Sea ; like po • licemen with their noses at the open door of the house they fear to enter, while the robbers are plundering at their ease. And it is in presence of a man like the Czar, whose course of conduct has been founded, directed, and pursued upon the calculation that the allies of Turkey are luke warm in the cause of what he calls the Pagans, that they are confirming and justifying his impressions, and encouraging him to go, as he assuredly will go, the whole length of his de ' signs. It is the profound conviction, ppenly ex pressed in society by men of shrewd intelligence, that the Czar will in due time be master of Con stantinople, and that as soon as he has achieved possession of the capital of the Turkish empire, proposals for partition will be made, and an utter hopelessness and sense cf imbecility accepted as inevitable. The public voice will be heard, per haps, making a little senseless noise, but so drilled and educated are we all into political respect for the fait accompli, that the thing once done will be recognised with Oriental submission to fatality. So many proper moments for effectual interference have been allowed to slip away, that should any happy accident renew a favourable opportunity, diplomacy would be too purblind ever to perceive it. The entry of the fleets into the Black Sea be comes now a duty so imperative, that if the move ment be not already made, hope in the allies will die completely out. Accordingly accounts from Constantinople are looked forward to with anxiety, as it will require some act calculated to give satis faction to the public mind in order to relieve it from the depression into which it has sunk, and revive confidence in the wisdom and determination of the united Powers. The correspondent of the Morning Chronicle, at Constantinople, writes on Dec. Ist :—" Recruits co4tinue to arrive. The Adria, an Austrian SAVE ME FROM MY FRIENDS ! LATEST FOREIGN NEWS. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. A telegraphic despatch from Vienna says that two French and two English frigates are gone to Sinope, nominally with medical assistance for the wounded. The same despatch confirms the news already received as to the British Minister at Te heran having broken off diplomatic relations with Persia. The following bulletin was posted on the Bourse at Odessa on the sth of December : " The Russian fleet, under the command of Admiral Nachimoff, has met in the Black Sea a Turkish and Egyptian fleet, composed of 18 ships —two-deckers, frigates, corvettes, together with two steamers of 500-horse power, and two others of 300-horse power. After a long engagement, the following Turkish ships have been destroyed or captured : One of 64 guns 60 guns If „ 52 guns „ 50 guns Ahmet Ali. „ 46 guns „ 22 guns " S teamers 2 of 20 guns each. 2 transports. 1 ditto British transport. " The engagement took place near Sinope. 5,000 Turks have been killed, and many taken prisoners. Osman Pasha, who was wounded, has also been taken prisoner. " Several officers, both English and French, were on board the Turkish fleet." Subjoined is the latest despatch from Constanti nople, dated Dec. 5 :—" On Wednesday, the 30th Nov., the Russians entered the harbour of Sinope with 3 three-deckers, 4 two-and-a-half-deckers, 6 frigates, and 4.steamers, making 17 vessels of war, and attacked the Turkish squadron there, consisting of six frigates, three corvettes, and two steamers. One Russian three-decker and all the Turkish ships were burnt, with the exception of the Taif, which brought this news. " The combat lasted for four hours. " The Retribution (English) and Mogador (French) steam-frigates sailed for Sinope yester day." News from Jassy of the 6th instant says : The Russian Consulate at Jassy has been broken up. The Consul-General, M. de Giers, has accom panied Baron Budberg to Bucharest. Colonel Zuchowski, the newly-appointed Vice- President of Moldavia, is expected at Jassy. The Russian General Sala will take the command of the Moldo-Wallachian Militia. ------- • ._ ----- _ ... Lloyd's steamer, arrived here on Monday with division of the Levant which is now united to the M 45 : 8 500 on board, coming from Smyrna. These men terranean squadron. The remainder of our arrive here in a very raw and ragged state ;an old employed in i,lrs service of our ports, of Algeria,n_ . n d„: turban, tattered jacket, and sash, wide coarse linen the colonies, as well as in private missions and in ~..w trowsers to the knee, leggings or no leggings, as the formation of different stations. The Govern t t o r, case may be, no stockings, and very ill-conditioned carried up the strength of our navy to its presen p in,Z shoes, a bundle on the back, and a pipe, complete vflthOut neglect „ vesselsan .0, in." the new constructions, without al their costume. Immediately on landing here they a m n i d nish . im u t t he st resou . rce n s r de i v m oted to the supply of s tores, impeding the great works i , l, are marched off to the barracks, where a regular transformation at once takes place. A red fez with • derta w ke l nat our .cP p P o i r n t g s ; it has watched with equal sl ': citude over all which constitutes the naval force of the a brass plate on the top and black silken tassel, country." takes the place of the turban, a coarse blue cloth ' jacket is endossed, and legs unaccustomed to close Major Magnan, who assisted Omer Pasha on constructing the immense fortifications erectea ';.,' confinement are thrust into close fitting trowsers of the same material. A picturesque Turk is thus su pere!, the Danube and in the Balkan, has arrived _lf . Paris. He is to have an audience of the E metamorphosed into a very awkward-looking semi- The Mints, which in its advocacy of a reform u,' rtunit3 European. the French tariff of customs omits no opp? f g 0 " The Turkish Government has taken a resolution of strengthening its arguments by the opinions which is, in a moral point of view, of very great practical men, devotes a large space to a notice .3 1,a . importance. A regiment of Christians (Cossacks) recent work by M. Dollfus, an eminent motif a , is being organised. This is a proof of progress and turer, on the urgency of a reduction of the import reform, as hitherto no Christians have ever become duty on cotton-threa regular soldiers of the Sultan ; neither h ave th e y i The French papers of yes'erday had not rea c h ed marched under the banner of the Crescent. Th e us at t h e time (,f going to press. The followi n g li overnment is to clothe and arm them, and t o has b een received by telegraphic despatch : er give them horses; during war time they are to The Bourse was dull yesterday. The Three 1 : ) receive the same pay as the ancient Spahis ; and it Cents. closed at 74f. 75c. for the end of the month,., is proposed, on peace being proclaimed, to form and the Four-and-a-Half per Cents..at 101 f. ,'-''; ; colonies of them on the frontiers of the empire, Orleans Rsilesa,y Shares, I,lBof. ; Rouen, I,ot 9 i• i : giving them the same privileges as the Knat-Cos- . Havre, 503 f. 75c. •, Great Northern 8 , 80f. ; 1 ,;,;', f , sacks. They wi!l form a body of light cavalry. ' and Strasburg, 832 f. 50c. ; Paris and Lyons, I :, e ' ril Sadyk Pacha is charged with the organisation of ' 25c. ; Lyons to the Mediterranean, 775 t. ; We s ' , this force. He is a Pole by birth, who had em- of France 695 f. ; Bordeaux and Cette, 627 - ou c c "' braced the Mahomedan faith. At Turtukai a body Great 'Central, 521 f. 25c. ; Lyons and Gen,, e p o ` t -: of men are being clothed in the Rnssian uniforms, 520 f. ; Sh ares o f t h e P an k o f C re dit M o bilier, iu .. taken from the eeld of battle at Oltenitza. M. de la Cour, late Ambassador at Constants "It is not true that the Turkish steamer Medari- nople, has arrived in Paris. Tidjaret, lately captured by the Russians, has been Namik Pasha leaves for London to-day. restored to the Ottoman Government. She was captured on the 18th of this month. Two English mechanics were on board, and refused to leave their ship. The captain and some of the passen gers got on shore in a boat. She has been taken to Sebastopol. Some relations of the Englishmen who remained on board have applied to the British embassy for interference for their release, and steps are already being taken by the British ambassador for that purpose. " It is stated that barracks have been demanded for troops by the western powers. The Caradoc arrived here on Sunday afternoon, bringing news from London up to the 18th. Mr. Purdie, Queen's messenger, came by•her, bearer of very late de spatches, and of a very important character. A note is spoken of, prepared since the arrival of the King of the Belgians in England, whose visit to the Queen is well known to be of a political cha racter. On Sunday and Tuesday councils were held at the Porte. On Saturday last General Baraguay d'Hilliers had an interview with Reschid Pacha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and the whole of the British embassy have moved up from their summer residence at Therapia to the palace at Pera. • " There is a great movement amongst the Polish, Hungarian, and Italian emigration here. A great many, especially of the latter, are continually arriving. Hitherto none have, however, found employment under the Turkish Government. Some Polish officers, who had already been for several years in Turkey, having come here at the end of the war in Hungary, have' been sent to join the army in Asia. " The crews from the British squadron are sent on shore every morning from Beycos, where the fleets are lying. They come several hundreds at a time, and greatly astonish the Turks by their pranks. The Turk of the old ,school has a great horror of intoxication, which he considers as de grading. The Koran prohibits the use of wine or spirituous drinks. Some of the upper classes, how ever, manage to get over these scruples, and take their wine like any European ; it is, however, done in private. British tars, as everybody knows, will take a glass of grcg, and will have a spree after wards ; neither are they very particular with re gard to the etiquette and customs of the land when in that state. As soon as all the crews of the Bri tish squadron will . have had their turn, it is thought that the French sailors will be let on shore. Hitherto the French admiral has prohibited their landing, it is presumed, to avoid disturbances. They are, however, much quieter men, and more orderly than the English tars. "At the end of last month a Turkish brig of war, which had been driven by contrary weather to the Serpent's Island, between the Sulina mouth of the Danube and Odessa, where the main force of the Russian fleet happened to be, was attacked by them,, and, after sustaining a fierce combat; was finally sunk, and every soul lost. " Three steamers of the Turkish squadron came in contact with a large Russian force in the Blac i Sea. A severe engagement ensued. Two of the steamers succeeded in making their escape ; the third, an Egyptian, was blown up by the captain, who refused to surrender. GREECE. A. telegraphic despatch from Athens, Decel lll l 3, says :—Several persons who were convicted or having excited the population of Greece to l , c h a o against Turkey have been arrested by order ca Greek Government. WEST INDIA MAILS. The Royal mail steam-ship La Plata, CaPt ei t ti t Welles, arrived at . Southampton on Thursdsk midnight, with the West India and Pacific now; Her dates are—Chagres, Nov. 24 ; Greyt o ' o ' Nov. 19 ; Jamaica, 27 ; Demerara, 25 ; Barbadcesi 27 ; St. Thomas, Dec. 1. La Plata brings 501 0 ; sengers, and on freight specie value $630,000, and a cargo of cochineal, indigo, quinine, jalap, pimento. At Jamaica the Import Duty Bill had recei ved the assent of the three branches of the Let.tislatii re r , and was to take effect from the 3d of bloveinbe last, to continue in force till the 31st of Decembe r ' 1854, if not previously amended or repealed. s In the new tariff several important reductions have been effected in the rates chargeable on Wire ral of the most Ileavily taxed articles, including salted beef, pork, tongues, spirits, tobacco, wi ne ' rice, jewellery, perfumery, gold and silver plate, 4t4 The duty on unenumerated goods remains a t per cent., ad valorem. In political affairs in Jamaica the dead lock ba d at last been removed, and the different branch es of the Legislature were working harmoniously t?: gether with some prospects of a continuance of this favourable change. The island was healthy, and heavy rains bed fallen. The House of Assembly had abandoned their intention of levying an assize duty on spirits, owing to the probable difficulties of collection. In the Kingston market not much business be d been done, although the market was rather better supplied. The high prices generally current tende d to limit operations. The loss of revenue during the period from th e i Ist of May to the 10th of October, from the wan of an import duty bill, had been ascertained ° amount to nearly 126,000/. Exchange on -London, 90 days, Colonial Beil k ' r per cent. pm. Pimento was quoted 345. P er 1001 b. Sugar plentiful at 16s. to 19s. The Pro spects for the next crop was excellent, At Antigua heavy rains had fallen, but the island was generally healthy. There had been a few cases of fever at. Janie° and Trinidad, but the rest of the islands were en tirely cleared of the scourge. In St. Lucia some improvement had taken Pie ce in the weather, but the fall of rain had been it% precedented ' • .the roads throughout the iele, l3 were in a bad condition, and cut up by the floods' In Martinique sugar-making had commenced' a The Trinidad papers state that an ordinance n it appeared fixing a new tariff of import duties. Heavy rains had fallen in Granada. Via Panama we have dates from Valparaiso to to the Ist, and Callao the 11th of November. The Bolivian army in the south has passed t; frontier into Peru, headed by General Belzu ; t Peruvian villagers fled before him. The war between Bolivia and Peru has therefore " The Turkish fleet are under orders for the Black Sea." The following is from Trebisond, dated Nov. 24: —A Turkish steamer arrived here on the morning of the 19th, on its way back from Batoum ' bringing news that on the 15th of this mouth the Turks at tacked the small outpost called Seffo, about 5 miles distant from Chevketil to the north, and occupied by a Russian garrison of about 700 men. An en gagement ensued, in which the Russians lost 400 men; the rest were driven to flight, and the place was occupied by the Turks. Letters from Kars say that a force composed of 16,000 Turks is marching on Ghumri (Alexandropol), and that they have on their way taken possession of several Rus sian villages, and that preparations for an engage ment were being set on foot on both sides. The day before yesterday an express arrived here, ad dressed to the Governor from Batoum announcing that seven Russian ships of war, three of which were steamers, had landed 4,230 men at about an hour and a half distant from Chevketil, on the coast, and that they were marching on that place. The Turkish troops went to meet them, and after an engagement, which lasted several hours, the Russians retreated, leaving from 400 to 500 dead on the field. They succeeded in gaining their boats, leaving one cannon and other arms in the hands of the. Turks. On gaining the Russian ships they set sail and made off. The little Turkish squadron, composed of three frigates and a steamer, which were directed to the coast of Circassia, have succeeded in landing ammunition there ; they then returned to Sinope. A small Turkish steamer has, as you perhaps already know, been captured by a Russian squadron in the waters of Ineboli—the Medjari Tidjaret, with a cargo on board worth 150,000 piastres. commenced in earnest. N j e l• By way of Panama we have dates from bourne to the 23d, and Sydney to the 16th of Ser e tember, brought up by Callao by the Gem 0f .. .,t) ) Sea. The news is anticipated by the steamer toria. Accounts from Honduras state that the Gove4 ment of the United States was negotiating v (P , the President of the State for the cession and Po.' chase of the island of Tigre, on the Pacifio coast. FRANCE. A French Cabinet Courier left Paris on Wednes day night with despatches for the Ambassador at Constantinople. He received orders to proceed by the shortest route, to employ the most rapid means of conveyance at the disposal of the traveller, and to rest neither night nor day till he arrived at his destination. It is scarcely necessary to say that the despatches he bears must be of the highest im portance, and they are believed to contain instruc tions for the military Ambassador at the Sublime Porte suited to the exigency of the moment. Their purport has not transpired, but it is surmised that the admirals are enjoined to carry into execution the orders which they had previously received to protect the Turkish fleets and the Asiatic coast from aggression, and, if aggression be committed, to punish the perpetrator, or avenge what they could not prevent. _ _ The Em'peror and. the Empress drove to St. Cloud on Tuesday at two o'clock, with ut escort, and returned to the Tuileries a little before five. The Constitutionnel has another long article on the progress of the French navy under the pre sent government. We extract the most important passage : "The budget of the naval department, which amounted to 158 millions in 1847, and to 153 millions in 1848, was in 1852 and 1853 only 117 millions, and out of that sum the estimates of 1852 left 10 millions disposable, one half of which was carried forward to the followini year, and the other half returned to the trea sury. What has been the state of our navy notwith standing this reduction ? Instead of 130 vessels fitted out agreeably to the provisions of the budget, we have had 161 at sea ; and instead of an effective strength of 27,000 men, we have had nearly 34,000. Thus, with a budget of less than 115 millions on an average of the last two years, we have kept 161 vessels at sea, and have employed 34,000 seamen. The govern ment has been thus able to realise an idea which was suggested in the ordenna,nce of 1846, on the constitution of the fleet, but which had never before been carried into effect—namely, that of organising two squadrons, one to operate in the Mediterranean, and the, other in the Chann e l. It is needless for us to enlarge o n the importance of a measure which makes us prepared for any eventuality. If the Mediterranean is not a French lake, we perform a part there which becomes every day more and more considerable, and it calls for the continued presence of an imposing force either in consequence of our African possessions or on account of political events which succeed each other so frequently in the East. Thus for a number of years our squadron of evolutions has been compelled to confine itself to the Mediterranean. The last complications of the Turco- Russian differences also show the importance of the new organisation. We have now therefore a squadron in each sea ; the vessels kept in a very advanced state in our dockyards could in case of need promptly reinforce either of them, and the railways furnish a ready means of re moving in a few days, according to circumstances, our maritime personnel from Brest to Toulon or vice versa as they ;flight be required. The only squadron which we had laSt year was composed of eight sail of the line ; our two squadron s now cons i s t o f 14 ships of the line with out reckoning a proportionate increase in the number of steam-frigates and corvettes. We have besides the naval EGYPT. ALEXANDRIA,. DEC. 3 ' • A A great number of merchant vessels:-have . , rived here during the last fortnight, and are in cargoes of grain and pulse. The stocks of grw: t in Alexandria seem to be greater than Wa s i f) first supposed ; and, though the exportatio n still limited to the quantities held by the la e t . o chants here, the apprehensions of deficiencies 0 fill the vessels are not yet felt.. It is also now 'w e f that the stocks in the Viceroy's stores are verYgr i e ., t :, and the only reasons that can be imagined to i i the his highness.to hold these large supplies are eiwby that he meditates a great speculative stroke , .„ selling when prices rise still higher, or that is 0 , 0 tention must be to ship off supplies to the Sulfa' arm Some strong protests have been made agai n d o • Government prohibition of bringing to A1exa2,1,,, h , .) grain and pulse from the interior, as .his -11%. ness may, in case of necessity, prohibitlbe expo 'i t tion, but by treaty ail British subjeCti: havesta right of trading in the interior of the Ottoman not pire, and merchants buying wheat at Cair o eau be prevented from bringing it to Alexandria sale. Wheat is now at fully 395. per quarter free e d board, and beans 355. per qr. On the other have , at Pi g receded to the numerous arrivals, freights re .. • receded to lls. 6d. per qr., and there axe, _ h i c h sent 60 vessels in port taking in cargoes, of v 40 are for Eland. The United ng States frigate St. Louis arriv ed ere r h ica u -‘m on the 25th of November, with the n ew e C •nsul-General M.Leon. fraoinlis for The railway is suffering much damage rise of water in Lake Mareotis, and the ernruitiv the distance of four or five miles Will ev . have to be taken up, and the embankment:s da so as to be beyond the reach of any future inu tion. ... e of The Sultan his sent a present t o Omer Dacha p roof three splendid horses, richly caparisoned, !• st o f the of his satisfaction at his able manageraeu late affairs on the Danube. ...-----..---....---- ~ _The T R UST AND LOAN COMPANY OF I:Trrze CAN -----* Tru st dividend declared yesterday at the meeting of the rate of and Loan Company of Upper Canada WV at the _ e a 7 per cent., free of income•tax, and the report was t ie.ag" to. The progress of the undertaking is considered P s i s factory. The whole of the investments are ce de e a tiod per cent., with the exception of the Montreal Corpoord the Fire Loan, at 6 per cent., in which case it is su ed of the sufferers by so great a calamity has beeg i n tim , of company's departure from its " ordinary rate lg. ' eca pe degree compensated by the uncommon cotobinil, la security which has been granted for the rainadvna los the course of proceedings the onl y question These, with reference to the charges for managers° ' it was contended, were high , and the directors r . to give the subject their att ention. roniiso ITALY. The Opinione of Turin of the 11th, has the ft; lowing on the exclusion of Advocate Brofferio, t w leader of the Radical Opposition, from the De . Piedmontese Parliamea : " There are 92,000 electors in Piedmont ; h it many votes has Advocate Brofferio obtained ? Caraglio, 6 ; at Mombercelli, 12; at Turill9.` e l total, 19 ! Advocate Brofferio, then, has recel v a severe lesson from the country, which has thug proved the little credit it gives to the accusati o ! calumnies, and shameless attacks made by th e „ 1 ' rector of the Voce upun Count Camillo Cavour. SPAIN. The Chevalier Sene, Charge d'Affaires of the 11° ;• public of Chili, has presented to the Minister °: Foreign Affairs the letter of his government P,1 1 ; ting an end to his mission, and suppressing ' Chiliau legation at Madrid. It is stated that th price of flour has fallen in'the capital, and that the bakers have reduced the price of bread. A COl/.. siderable quantity of snow has fallen in the Sierr 3 ' near Madrid.