The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-09 00:00:00

DECEMBER 9, 1854.

went, but each man believed that the battle depended upon
his own individual heroism and exertions. (Hear.) They
( the people of England) would depreciate themselves if
they did not afford those brave men all the assistance in
their power. (Hear, hear.)
Subsequently, the meeting was addressed and resolu-
tions moved by Major Howard Vyse, M. G. Barclay,
and Lord E. Bruce. A house-to-house collection was
determined on, and a sub-committee named to con-
duct it.
The Canadian Legislature, on the 18th ult., unani-
mously voted the sum of 20,0001. sterling for the
Patriotic Fund. _ _

At Lisbon a subscription Is getting up in aid of
the fund, through the influence of Mr. Smith, her
Majesty's consul.
A public meeting of the inhabitants of Gibraltar
was held on November 22, at which resolutions were
passed, expressing their most devoted loyalty to the
Queen, and their deepest sympathies for the suf-
ferings of the gallant soldiers and sailors who are
now encountering the hardships of war, and declaring
that they embrace with thankfulness this opportunity
of affording assistance to the widows and orphans of
the brave men who may fall in the present war with
Russia. A committee was afterwards nominated for
the purpose of collecting subscriptions in aid of the
fund.
Amongst the cargo brought by the Indus to South-
ampton were forty-nine packages of specie, value
119,805/., 5,0001. of which form the contributions to-
wards the Patriotic Fund, from South Australia.

CRIMEAN ARMY FUND.

An association has been formed under the above
title, with the view of rendering some assistance to
the British army while exposed to the many priva-
tions and hardships incidental to a winter campaign.
A committee has been appointed including the Duke
of Wellington, the Marquis of Blandford, Viscount
Mandeville, Lord Robert Grosvenor, M.P., &c., and
it is proposed to forward to Balaklava a supply of
such articles of provisions, warm clothing, &c., as
may be considered most useful. The committee
have already at their disposal the Fairy yacht, the
property of Mr. Wm. Lyon, member of the Yacht
Club, and another yacht, 220 tons burden, the pro-
perty of the Earl of Ellesmere, which will severally
have a freight of tobacco, tea, and other serviceable
articles, as a gift to the non-commissioned officers
and privates. A store of articles will also be esta-
blished at Balaklava, which will be sold at cost price
to those who would be unwilling to receive such
articles as a gift.
PROVISION AND ATTENDANCE FOR THE SICK.
The Sisters of Mercy and nurses for the hospital
of Scutari, fifty-one in number, accompanied by Dr.
Meyer, arrived in Paris on Saturday evening, on their
way to Marseilles. Several of them attended divine
service on Sunday at the Ambassador's Chapel. At
Boulogne the officers of the Customs and the other
authorities did everything possible to spare them
trouble and inconvenience, and the directors of the
railway delayed the train to prevent their having to
wait for the last train, by Which they would not have
reached Paris before midnight. Dinners had been
ordered for them beforehand at the Hotel des Bains.
When they called for the account all payment was
refused, both by the proprietor of the hotel and the
domestics, who had loaded them with attention.
Last week twelve scripture readers have arrived at
Scutari from England. They demanded permission
of the authorities at the hospitals to read the scrip-
tures to the sick and wounded soldiers. This was
willingly accorded, and they had every facility given
them for persevering in their meritorious and ardu-
ous task.
Dr. Jules Cloquet has proposed to the Emperor of
the French to lend his country-house, situated on the
seashore, near Toulon, for the reception of officers
of the army or navy wounded in the East. The Em-
peror has written to Dr. Cloquet to say that he wil-
lingly accepts his offer, and congratulated him on the
patriotic manner in which he has proposed to em-
ploy his villa.
WROUGHT-IRON ORDNANCE.
Mr. Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam-hammer,
has proposed to make powerful guns of wrought-iron.
He writes to the Times :

Government have entered most cordially into my views,
and in the most liberal spirit have empowered me to pro.
ceed forthwith in carrying out my designs.

TITZ TRAMES was visited one day last week by a shoal of
te
Whales numbering between forty and fi , some of them
ft
apparently thirty or forty feet in len , who disported
themselves in the middle of e river, between
Gravesend and Tilbury Fort. They proceeded up as far
as off Rosherville, then reversed their course, having come
in contact with two steamers coming down the river. They
were of that class of whales called by the fishermen
• " finners "—a name, judging from the immense dorsal fin,
which, when they arose to the surface, appeared to be from
eight to ten feet in length, most appropriate to them.
The appearance of these fish in the nver so high up as
Gravesend created tivegreatest surprise, as a similar visit,
as the vratermen and fishermen averred, had never before
been observed. The whales were pursued by some fisher•
men in boats, but succeeded in tamping unhurt.

THE PRESS.

jortign au golonial

FRANCE.
In a letter to the Minister of War General
Canrobert asks for promotions and rewards for the
sailors of the French fleet who have been serving on
shore. In the course of his communication he says :
" All the army admires the conduct of these brave
men, who from the commencement of our operations
have striven with unequalled energy against the
greatest difficulties ever presented in a siege."
The Emperor has raised Vice-Admirals Hamelin
and Parseval Deschenes to the rank of admiral.
Some model tents and huts have lately been
erected in the " reserved " gardens of the Tuileries,
beneath the windows of the Emperor's private apart-
ments. They were placed there in order that selec-
tion might be made of the form and material best
suited for the army in the Crimea. His Majesty has
made his choice, and contracts are already concluded
which will result, as the Patrie states, in the com-
pletion and transport to the scene of action before
the end of the month of a supply amply sufficient
to shelter the whole French army, horses as well as
men.
It is said that a national subscription is to be
raised in France in favour of the widows and orphans
of the soldiers who have lost or may lose their lives
in the Crimea, and that the Empress is to place her
name at the head of the list.
An imperial decree opens from the budget of
1854 a new extraordinary credit of 25,700,000 f. to
meet the expenses of the war in the East, and
particularly the cost of sending out two new divi-
sions. A sum of 12,250,000 f. is appropriated to pay
and support of troops, and the remainder to stores of
various kinds.
Immense preparations have been made at Lyons
and Marseilles for grand religious fetes on Dec.
(the fete of the Conception of the Virgin), to cele-
brate the dogmatic declaration of the Immaculate
Conception expected then to be promulgated by the
Pope.
The President of the Republic of Mexico, to show
his good-will and esteem for the Emperor Napoleon,
has pronounced a complete amnesty in favour of the
French adventurers compromised and taken prisoners
at Guaymas.
GERMANY.
An offensive and defensive treaty between Austria,
France, and England was concluded on Saturday
last. Couriers were sent off therewith to Paris and
London.
Prussia and/the German Bund will be forthwith
invited to join•,..e alliance.
The special provisions of this convention have not
yet transpired, and the text will, it is stated, not be
published until the formal interchange of ratifica-
tions on the 15th inst.
The Berlin journals published on Tuesday a des-
patch, of the 15th November, from M. Manteuffel to
Comte Arnim, expressing the desire of the Prussian
Government that no concession should be required
from Russia beyond the four points of guarantee.

DENMARK.
The result of the new elections, as ascertained on
Monday, showed that eighty-four anti-Ministerialists
had been returned out of one hundred members. On
that day the King dismissed his Ministry, requesting
them, however, to hold office provisionally until their
successors could be appointed. General Keogh was,
at the same time, summoned to Copenhagen by his
Majesty.

ITALY.
A letter from Rome in the Parlamento of Turin
states that the Conference of Bishops at Rome was
closed on the 2nd, after coming to a nearly unanimous
conclusion on the matter under debate.

SPAIN.
The Madrid Chamber on the sth inst. passed a
vote of confidence in the Ministry, by a majority of
140 Against 42. Espartero and the other ministers
have resumed their functions.
On the 2nd, the Cortes decided that the municipal
elections should be postponed till a law on the subject
is passed.
TURKEY.
A change in the Administration took place at Con-
stantinople on the 23rd ult. Mehemet Kipresli
Pacha, who has been the Sultan's Grand Vizier since
May last, has retired. Redscbid Pacha, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, again becomes Grand Vizier, and
the office which he lately held falls to Ali Pacha,
previously in the Ministry without portfolio.
THE PRINCIPALITIES.
The Journal. de Coottantinop/e, of Nov. 20, states
that the Ottoman may of the Danube was to
advance by forced marches to the Pruth, enter
Bessarabia, and attack the Russians.
Thirty thousand men under Achmet Pacha, for-
merly of Kalafat, and now a marshal, were to march
to Babadagh to guard the Danube. Iskender Bey
commands the vanguard of 5,000 men, and is going
to destroy the enemy's works at Ismail. The

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cavalry under Halem Paella had reached Fokachany.
The main body of the Turkish army, under Omer
Pacha, and composed of about 88,000 infantry, was
awaiting the cessation of the rains, upon which it
would march for the Truth. Tassoun Pacha sends
the troops under his orders from Rustchuk to
Bucharest, and will himself keep garrison there with
8,000 men.
A letter from Ibraila, dated Nov. 15, says :
The Russians have been driven out of the Dobrudscha;
the 3rd Regiment of the Imperial (Ottoman) Guards and
the bashi-bazonks, under the command of his Excellency
Hadjee Ali Pacha and Colonel Achmed Bey, defeated the
Don Cossacks and Greek volunteers in some brilliant
actions on the heights of Therna, and breve them back
to Isatchka, where the Russians reerossed the bridge and
broke it. Babedagh, Tultauha, and Matschin are in the
hands of the Ottoman troops. Marshal Achwed
commanding•in•ahief the Sultan's troops occupying the
two banks of the Danube and those of the Sereth, has
established his headquarters at 'bridle. The scene of
hostilities is henceforth shifted to Bessarabia, where the
Russians are preparing to make a resistance ; but they
will have to keep a line of at least fifty leagues, which they
can only do by scattering their !braes.

RUSSIA.
There are several indications of a Russian move-
ment on the Austrian frontier. The Russian Guards
and Grenadiers are advancing into Poland. The entire
Ist Infantry Corps, under General Sievers, is being
concentrated on the left bank of the Vistula. Thu
2nd Corps, under General Paniutin, has orders to
proceed to Volhynia and Podolia. An imperial
decree, dated Nov. 13, orders two more battalions to
be added to the regiments of the Finland army.
Sixty battalions of sharpshooters are to be raised.
The " state of siege" at St. Petersburg had been
suspended by an ukase, dated Oct. 10.
The Neva was entirely frozen over at St. Peters-
burg on the 25th ult. All the works in the forte
situate at its mouth, on the seaside, and those con-
structing on the islands in front of that capital, had
been suspended on account of the winter. Between
Kowno and Warsaw sledges are now used, and in the
neighbourhood of Kalisch and Leuzcio the ground is
covered with snow.