The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-29 00:00:00

THE ENTIRE RUSSIAN FLEET

AT

- ,

398

Letters from Copenhagen say that an agreement
has been entered into between the British Ambas-
sador and the Russian Consul, by which all the
crews on board Russian vessels captured by the
British cruisers shall be released, upon their en-
gaging not to serve against the belligerent forees
during the war.
An ordinance has just appeared at St. Petersburg
respecting the treatment of prisoners of war. Tule,
Orel, Think, and Kaluga are named as the central
depots. Renegades and refugees are, if officers, to
receive only the treatment of common soldiers, and
have also a special place of kiwir assigned to them.
Such prisoners as shall prove to be Austrian subjects
are to be delivered over to the nearest frontier station
of the Austrian empire.
The Russian Government has published ukases for
the formation of a fleet of armed row-boats for the de-
fence of the coast of the Gulf of Finland. They are
to be manned by volunteers in the governments of
Petersburg, Novogorod, Olonetz, and Twer. From
the day of their enrolment the men will receive pay at
the rate of eight silver roubles (about 32f.) a month.
It is stated that Kossuth and Mazzini were ex-
pected at Constantinople, and that Reschid Pacha
had declared that he would not allow them to set
foot on the Turkish territory.
The Governor of Gallipoli, a quiet old Turk, is
dead, fairly worried to death by the French aux-
iliaries. The exact and organising intellect of the
Gallic race has already made a revolution in the
place. Before the troops had been there three days
they had named the streets, numbered the houses,
and established a police. The quiet routine of the
good Bey's life was broken through : he was inces-
santly assailed by generals and colonels, and was
held responsible for all that was done or left undone
within his jurisdiction. He took to his bed, and has
not survived to see the changes which threaten his
native country.
The Turkish Consuls have left Greece. The sub-
jects remain.
French vessels were blockading the Gulf of Corinth
on the 21st. An official notification has been sent to
the Greek Government that ammunition for the in
surgents will be seized and sympathisers taken.
England threatens to blockade, and to take further
measures. _ _ .

The Greek marauders who attacked Armiro on the
7th inst. were completely routed, with great loss of
life and booty. The measures against Hellenic sub-
jects continue to be enforced with great severity in
Constantinople. The number of Greeks that have
been repulsed is 15,000, and it is calculated that
3,000 to 4,000 more will receive their passports.
About 1,500 have become Rayahs, giving securities
for their good behaviour. The Greek merchants ad-
dressed a memorial to the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, requesting a further term of fifteen days.
This has been granted, on condition that the
parties desirous of enjoying this respite shall give
securities.

A letter from Stockholm of the 10th says :—" Yes-
terday the Prince Royal and Prince Augustus re-
turned from inspecting the fortifications of the for•
tress of Wanholm. The blockade of tho Russian
ports by Admiral Napier has been officially notified
to our Government."

Yesterday noon her Majesty, Prince Albert, the
Prince of Wales, and the juvenile members of the
Royal Family, attended by the noblemen and ladies
of the Court, proceeded in seven carriages to the
Royal Academy, to have a private view of the paint-
ings for the Exhibition. A considerable crowd was
collected in front of the National Gallery, and as her
Majesty and the Royal Family alighted they were
greeted with the most enthusiastic cheers.

It is announced from Berlin that the resignation
of Chevalier Bunsen has been accepted by the King
of Prussia. Count Bernstorf, now Prussian Minister
at Naples, is appointed to succeed M. Bunsen as
Envoy in this country.

AN improved system of ventilating the House of
Commons has been introduced during the brief recess
by Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney. The new plan appears
to be fully successful.
IT is with great regret that we learn the death of
Henry, Lord Cockburn, one of the Judges of the
Court of Session in Scotland, which took place in
Edinburgh on the '2Bth inst., after a short illness.

The attendance at the Papal Easter ceremonies this
year was unexampled. The drought occasioned fears
for the growing wheat. The Austrians in Ancona had
a figure of a Turkish officer set up to practise firing
at. The trial of Rossi's supposed assassins had been
suspended at the request, as supposed, of the French
Government.

THE PRESS.

MINISTERIAL CONDUCT OF THE WAR.
As the practical measures of the Ministry for carrying
on the war develop themselves into results, itbecomes
not a little interesting to collect such facts and opinions
as may help towards forming some judgment of their
wisdom or the reverse. We have accordingly
culled the following fragments from articles, letters,
&c., that have appeared in different journals, some of
them Ministerial organs, during the past week.
( From the Times.)
Seeing that the situation of Gallipoli has been selected
entirely on strategical principles, it is useless to lament
that on the spot chosen for the abode of a large army f,r
we know not how fang there is but scanty water, no shelter,
and neither tree nor blade of grass. Those inconveniences
are common to us and our allies. But the management
on our side, we are told ,is " infamous," and the contrast
offered by our proceedings to those of the French most
painful. Will it be helieved,—and the character of our in •
formant does not permit us to doubt,—the sick have not a
bed to lie upon? " They are lauded and thrust into a
ricketty building, without a chair to sit upon or a door that
will shut. The French, with their ambulances, excellent
commissariat staff, and boulangeries, are in every respect
immensely our superiors. While no attempts are made to
rectify these deficiencies, Sir George Brown," we are told,
" seems only anxious that the men shall be clean-shaved,
their necks well stiffened up, and their waistbelts tight."
As the French have got all the best houses and all the best
attendance to themselves, there is all the more reason why
we should make it up out of our own resources ; but re-
sources
we have none adapted to the emergency. No
serious harm is done yet ; but, if things are no better on
landing on a spot familiar to every schoolgirl, how will it be
when our fine, full-fed regiments have entered many days'
march into the heart of a desolated and miserable country?
If this is all we have learnt since the beginning of the cen-
tury, and if this is all the aid our civilisation can offer us,
that aid is but equivocal.
(From the Daily News.)
Strongly as we have been led to criticise the administra-
tion of the navy on certain points of detail, we have plea-
sure in bearing testimony to the readiness with which the
present board have adopted many sound suggestions
offered them by the press. It must not be forgotten that
during the rule of Sir James Graham and Mr. Bernal
Osborne over the navy we have sent forth the finest fleet
that ever sailed from the shores of England, and that if
Admiral Pundits, who has charge of another noble collec-
tion of our ships, has not yet been so energetic as the
public in their anxiety have wished him to be, the fault is
not fairly chargeable on the Admiralty as a department,
but rather on the Cabinet as a whole. Compared with the
Horse Guards the Admiralty Board is a perfect company of
Crichtons. Sir James Graham is worth a dozen Lord
Hardinges, at all events. The slowness with which the
troops have been landed in Turkey is also a sin at the door
of the Ministry, rather than of its naval branch. The
troops themselves have been most anxious for active service
—the carriage of the men and the steam-ships which have
been employed has been prompt. It was not the Admi
ralty who originated the plan of droppingthem all at Malta
as a kind of half-way house. The Cabinet must bear that
blame. Whilst blaming the Admiralty for their own sins,
therefore, let us be just, and not visit them with the sins
of others.
(From the Chronicle.)
The uppermost feeling in the mind of every one here
(Constantinople) is, that the allied powers are taking it
very coolly, and that the Russians are stealing many
marches upon them. Whether the same ignorance is
found in official quarters that prevails among the public I
cannot say, but i believe it does, for we are sadly deficient
in any details concerning the corps d'armee that has crossed
the Danube. All we know for certain is, that no resistance
of any importance was made at the crossing, and that
since then the movements of the Ottoman army have been
characterised by much uncertain shifting and retreating,
and that several bodies of men, some say regiments, have
been cut to pieces. Meantime the Russians are rapidly
advancing.

THE PITT CLUB.
TO THE EDITOR OF " THY. PRESS."

Sir,—Permit me, as an old member of the Pitt
Club, to inquire why it is that the members are
now never called together to celebrate the birthday
of the illustrious statesman in whose honour the club
was formed? It is particularly desirable at this time
that the memory of the man who lived, "not for him-
self but for his country,"* should be kept in public
remembrance; yet, so entirely have the officers of the
Pitt Club separated themselves from their members,
that I really am not aware who is the secretary ; but
I call upon him, whoever he may he, for an explana-
tion of the conduct of the executive.
A MEMBER OF THE PITT CLUB.
April 24, 1854.

• Pitt's motto, "Non sibi, sfq NAHA, visit."

THE ART UNION OF LONDON.
THE annual meeting and prize drawing of the
London Art Union took place on Tuesday at the
Lyceum Theatre. Mr. Godwin, F.R.S., read the
report, which stated the gradual and satisfactory
progess of the association :
" During the first year the society had with difficulty
raised 4901. The subscriptions, however, increased suc-
cessively to 7501., to 1,3001., 2,2001., 5,5001., 13.0001.,
14,0001., 15,0001., 17,0001., and in one year to nearly
18,0001.; ultimately subsiding to an annual income of

SATURDAY,

from twelve to thirteen thousand a year, and furnishing in
the whole up to this time nearly 200,0001. in aid of art and
artists. The subscriptions for the year amount to the sum
of 12,9101. 165., and each subscriber of the current year has
received an engraving of Mr. Stanfield's picture, Tilbury
Ford—Wind against Tide '—worth in ordinary commerce
a guinea and a half. The subscribers of last year have
also received their engravings, ' The Surrender of Calais'
and • Christ led to Crucifixion.' For the ensuing year it
is proposed to offer to each subscriber an impression of a
plate by Mr. Willmore, A.E.R A., from the picture, A
Water Party,' by Mr. J. J. Chalon, R.A., together with a
volume containing thirty wood engravings illustrative of
Childs Harold.' One hundred and seventy-eight works
of art were put ehased by the prizeholders last year from
the various public exhibitions of the season, ranging in
value from 250/. downwards. The number of local secre-
taries and agents it has been seen has now reached 500 ;
besides those in the United Kingdom, the society hss repre-
sentatives in Australia, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Cape
of Good Hope, the Channel Islands, China, Egypt, the
East Indies, France, Holland, Italy, Malta, Mauritius,
Mexico, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, New Zealand,
Nova Scotia, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United States,
the West Indies, and Venezuela. The reserved fund now
amounts to the sum of 5,7641. The following is a state-
ment of the receipts and expenditure :—Amount sub-
scribed, 12,910/. 16s. Set apart for the purchase of pic-
tures and other prizes, 8;248/. ; cost of engraving,
1,8221. 15s. 3d.; printing and other expenses, 2,840/. Os. 9d. ;
total, 12,910/. Ills. The sum set apart for prizes, to bo
selected by the prizeholders,will be-25 works, at 101. each ;
20, at 151. ; 30, at 201. ; 30, at 251. ; 30, at 401. ; 14, at 501.;
20, at 601. ; 12, at 801. ; 6, at 1001.; 2, at 1501. ; 1, at 2001. ;
1, at 2101. To these are added : 5 bronzes of her Ma-
jeaty ; 2 bronzes of ' Satan Dismayed ;' S bronzes in relief
of ' The Duke of Wellington entering Madrid ; 40 tazzas in
iron ; 60 Parian statuettes, Solitude ; 80 porcelain sta-
tuettes, The Dancing Girl Reposing;' 30 saver medals
of Flaxman ; and 500 impressions of the lithograph, ` The
Three Kings ;' making in all 913 prizes, being about one
to every fourteen members."