The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-09 00:00:00

COASTS OF THE SEA OF AZOFF.

The following description of the fortresses and
ports round the Sea of Azoff is given by Galignani :
It will have been seen by the despatches from General
Pelissier to the French Government, that the results of the
naval expedition which had passed the strait of Yenikale,
have been as rapid as they are satisfactory. In a few days
it completely swept the Sea of Azoff, and caused a very
heavy loss to the enemy. Thy port of Berdianski, where
the Russian steamers were lying, is situated a little beyond
the Crimean peninsula, and belongs to the continental go-
vernment of Taurida, at the extreme south-eastern limit of
which it lies. The town is of recent construction, and con•
tains about 4,00 A inhabitants. After having visited that
place, the squadron descended to the Bay of Anibal, at
which on the one side, and et the Bay of Kaffa, on the
other, the secondary peninsula of Kertch commences. The
fort of Arabat is, it appears, in a tolerably good state of
defence. It was taken by assault in 1768, by the troops
of Prince Dolgomuki, and was then completely repaired by
the Russians. The country is deserted and barren. as is
the whole of the peninsula of Kertch, which consists of a
plain strongly impregnated with salt. To escape from the
monotony of such a scene it is necessary to reach the
opposite coast, where Kaffa is situate. From the fort of
Arahat starts that narrow strip of land known by the name
of the Tongue of Arabat, which, running to the north, se-
parates the Sea of Azoff from the Putrid Sea. This
tongue of land, about 70 miles in length, is composed of a
very sandy soil, and in some places is not above 4flO yards
in width. It is the road generally followed by carriers in
bringing provisions and merchandise from Lesser Russia
to the eastern part of the Crimea. The tongue of Arabat
is not, however, really joined to the continent; it is sepa•
rated from it by a narrow pus called the Strait ofJenitchi,
which forms the communication between the Sea of Azoff
and the Putrid Sea. The traders cross in a ferry-boat this
pass, which is only three feet in depth, and about a hundred
yards wide, and then follow the tongue of land as far as
the fort of Arabia. In summer thia pass is almost dry, and
may be passed on foot. The Russian troops have several
times taken this road to turn the lines of Perekop. and pe-
netrate into the Crimea, but this operation, always difficult
and even imprudent, could not be undertaken unless the
Russians were in full possession of the Sea of Azoff. The
Putrid Sea is only a gulf of that sea; and, according to the
direction of the winds, its waters overflow, or retire by the
Strait of Jenitchi. When they are low, they exhale the
most fetid odour, which has canoed this great lake to
acquire its ill-omened name of the Putrid Sea. At present,
in consequence of the late successes, the command of $ll
these districts must be considcred as yircually in the hands
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FRANKFORT, JUNE 6.
THE propriety of the Diet and the dignity of
Austria have been disturbed by the following
declaration in the authorised journal of Lord
Palmerston :

In the confidence that by the blessing of Providence
►ictory will declare for the right, we cannot doubt that the
" material guarantees" which must then be exacted from
Russia to an extent not hitherto contemplated, will render
necessary such an adjustment of the balance of power in
Europe as may make it advisable to call upon Austria for
the cession of some of its fairest provinces.

This confirms the long suspicions of Austria, and
accounts for the procrastination of her equivocating
policy. It has been said in these letters from the
first that on either hand Austria was in imminent
danger unless she pursued a straightforward and
fearless course. On the side of Russia Austria is
open to a ready march on her capital, and the Rus-
sians would find willing coadjutors in the Hun-
garians and the Sclave population. Taking part
with the Russians, and against the Western powers,
the Italian provinces are irrevocably lost. The war
has established three primary powers—England,
France, and Russia—Austria and Prussia follow
as secondary powers, and then comes a long interval.
The English papers, excepting THE PRESS, are
all wrong on the effect of Mr. Disraeli's motion.
You may be assured that it has had a prepotent
effect on the Continent; it has advanced the cause
of civilisation immensely from having unmasked all
parties, and we now know friends from enemies,
continentally. It has determined the question of
an honest war or a dishonest peace.
English matters are diligently conned over here
in Germany. There is not a salon wherein the
affairs of England are not daily discussed. There is
not a " gasthairs," or a cigar-shop, where disrespect is
not cast upon the Queen of England for having cor-
dially received the Emperor and Empress of the
French. And these bacchanal and injurious taunts
are permitted, if not encouraged, by the police. The
nationality of central Germany partakes largely of a
solid hatred of France. Heretofore England was
considered the powerful and principal check upon
the latter empire. This belief has been dispelled,
and central Germany looks to Russia, and has
accepted the terms of union brought by the Prince
of Oldenburg, which will liberate the princes from
the trammels of Austria and Prussia. The free
action of Germany will ultimately entail the loss of
the Rhineland to Prussia, and of the Lombardo-
Veneto provinces to Austria. Come what may, the
balance of European power will never be stable
until this be completed. These are the words of a
ducal representative at the Diet, upon a discussion
on the manifesto of the Ministerial journal in Eng-
land, and after quoting a speech of Lord Palmerston
to that effect, as regards Austria, delivered six
years ago!
The debates in the English Parliament have been
studied, and the conduct of the leading men analysed
without reserve. It is known that there was a secret
"trams" stealthily working at Brussels and Berlin,
to the which Lord John Russell was a tacit party,
and which the Vienna Conferences served to mask.
The dragging into light the act of darkness, and
the gibbetting of Lord John Russell's reputation, is
here held to be the work of Mr. Disraeli. The pro-
tocols were not to he made public to the Parliament ;
such is said to have been the understanding, and M.
de Buol has strongly animadverted on their publica-
tion to the several Courts of Germany, with sharp
instruction that Austria will oppose their discussion
in the Diet. The Nesselrode circular is not more
approved, and the document of M. Walewski makes
the Austrian Minister sick at heart. Without the
determination and perseverance of Mr. Disraeli the
protocols never would have been produced. In due
course came the shuffle of Milner Gibson. But the
motion of Mr. Disraeli cramped the Ministry, and
the debate thereon has bad immediate results
throughout Germany. It has been the cause of
f esh dissension betwixt Austria and Prussia. M.
di Buol has written a private and confidential pro-
t ist against the interference of Russia in Germany,
and the celebrated ultimatum which was to have
been sent to Russia, but which is now proved to have
b!en concocted previously between Russia, Austria,
and Prussia, with the cognisance of Lord J. Russell
and others, is flung to the winds. This is the sole
work of Mr. Disraeli, and for this the people of
England ought to be beholden to him. In Germany
the consternation has been extreme, for Wirtem-
berg, Bavaria, and Saxony cannot show clean hands
towards Austria; the princes have been bought like
sheep in a market, and the isolation of Austria has
teem made palpable to the meanest intellect in Get.-

THE PRESS.

many. Her prestige is gone. Then follows, as a
last blow, and after the fatal debate wherein Lord
John Russell figured more prominently than was
consistent with his personal respectability, the
ominous leader of the Palmerston journal. The
consequences are not doubtful throughout the Con-
federation. The princes care nothing for Italy or
the Prussian Rhineland. They fear France and
hate England, and these are their motives of action
since they have become assured of the protection of
Russia. Mr. Disraeli has the credit of having un-
ravelled a conspiracy that, if successful, would have
been disastrous to the national honour of England;
he has completely unmasked Austria, and he has
been the means of enlightening her on the Germanic
affection of the Czar; he has laid bare a Whig
intrigue right worthy of the dregs of that family
faction; he has foiled Prussia, unkennelled the
kinglets of Germany, and struck terror to the soul
of Russia. And this by simply appealing to the
honour and patriotism of the English nation.
J. E. L

BRUSSELS, Thursday.
AFTER the revolutions of 1848 and the defeat of the
Red Republicans in Paris, the vanquished of every
colour and shade betook themselves to places of
safety. These were only to be found in Switzerland,
Belgium, and England. Paris became, and remains
still, the head-quarters of the Constitutionalists—
Italian, Hungarian, and Polish—of those men, to
use an apt French term, " gents senses," who refuse
to pledge the touchstone toast of " Mort aux Rois !"
and conceive that a representative Government
offers a better security for the happiness of the
million than any other. London, Brussels, and
Geneva are the depots of revolutionary Europe; and
the directors of Red Republican conscience, there
installed, absolve the perpetrators of the most atro-
cious crimes upon the principle of the end justifying
the means.

The French police, a short time since, had become
cognisant of a Red conspiracy hatching at Brussels.
When the chain of intelligence was entire and as-
sured, the French authorities demanded the instant
arrest of the Freres Jacquin, French manufacturers
settled at Brussels. They were taken in December,
1851, their papers seized, and delivered over to the
French authorities at Lille. It so happened that
the "maitre ouvrier" of the Freres Jacquin was
named Celestin Jacquin, and said not to be related
to his masters. This man, it would appear, was the
real person whom the French police desired to have
safe, and, together with his employers, he was ar-
rested. It is not certain whether the Freres Jacquin
participated in the acts of their foreman, but the
papers found in their house, and consigned to the
French police, fully confirmed the fact of the con-
spiracy, with its ramifications in London and else
where, and numerous arrests on the French frontier
took place in consequence.
The detection and failure of the plot, however, was
displeasing to the Russo-Belgians, and a representa-
tive brought the case officially before the Chambers on
Friday last, complaining formally of the impropriety
and injustice of having arrested the Freres Jacquin.
He got nothing by his motion beyond the Ministerial
assurance that the conspiracy of Red Republicans
had positively existed, and that the arrests were
strictly in order, " accordee en vertu de la loi
Francaise de 1853, qui assimile l'assassinat du
Souverain des Francais aun parricide." By these
words, purposely and emphatically adopted, the
honest Minister revealed the nature of the plot.
This is not all that has been obtained. The
private signs of the Red Republicans have been dis-
covered. That of a " Rouse sang tont pur," consists
in a minute part of the cuff belonging to the left
sleeve of the coat being carefully pinned back imme-
diately under the thumb, so tbat, on lifting the hand
to take the cigar from the mouth, the head of the
pin becomes visible. An ordinary pin marks the
elite of the conspirators, but a black pin is only per-
mitted to those capable of " hautes d'couvres "—par
example. The mode of buttoning the coat right or
left, and having slashed pockets placed on one or
the otber side, are signals varying according to
weekly or monthly directions. These are now known
to the police. E. R.