The Express.
London, England, 1853-05-24 00:00:00

TURKEY.

The crisis at Constantinople palace into a new
stage, with the simultaneous rejection of the
Menchixotl ultimatum and the appointment of a
cabinet decidedly anti-Russian. The telegraph an-
nounces the reply of. the Divan to the Russian am-
bassador as absolute and definitive; a statement
which concurs with the complexion of the new cabi-
net, to preclude the suggestion which has been made
in a very respectable quarter that the ministerial
crisis was an expedient to gain time. The recall
of Reschid Pacha, the consistent reformer, to the
premiership, and the re-establishment of Enid Ef-
fendi in the ministry, show more than the resolution
of the Sultan to assert his independence as the head
of an European sovereign state—they promise a re-
turn to that enlightened system of internal adminis-
tration which, under the present Sultan and his
patriotic predecessor, has safely conducted Turkey
through so many difficulties and dangers, and se-
cured to its people a degree of material prosperity
which some of their most boastful neighbours re-
gard with envy.

The correspondent of a journal whose eagerness
to prophesy evil of Turkey has led it into a continu-
ous series of mistakes on this question, writing from
Constantinople on the 9th, says: " The Russian port-
of the Black Sea arc at this moment crowded with
the munitions of war, and the heights above Odessa
are covered with the tents of a large army. On
the banks of the Pruth we are assured the pon-
toons are already made, and the vast army collected
there wait but the signal to enter the principalities."
There is no doubt that this is strictly true, and has
been for several years, but in going to war the
" signal" is everything. Since 1848 the Czar has
professed a nervous anxiety to see the peace of
Europe maintained. At every seeming crisis we
have heard of him as a sage adviser, counselling
moderation and sacrifices for the maintenance of
peace. He may be expected upon this occasion to
have some regard for his own consistency. Should,
however, this consideration fail, there is another
which cannot but have weight with a prudent despot.
The opportunity of a war in the south-east of Europe
with the forces of Russia thoroughly occupied, would
certainly not be unimproved by the uneasy millions
who now fret in the neighbourhood of the Czar's
frontiers, and the cost and pains of the Russian cam-
paign of 1849 in Hungary might prove to have been
thrown away.
Letters from Constantinople of the 9th state that
as soon as tho affair of the Holy Places was ad-
justed, it was remarked with some astonishment that
Prince Menchikoff made no preparations for depar-
' tare, but even proceeded to establish himself in the
summer palace of the embassy at Buyukdere, distant
some leagues from Constantinople, as if he wished to
separate himself from his colleagues of the diplo-
matic corps, and as if expecting instructions to enter
upon some new business. Acoordingly, on the sth
of May, as the public have already been informed,
the Russian steam-frigate Bessarabia arrived from
Odessa, having on board a Russian colonel with
despatches for Prince Menchikoff, and on Satur-
day, the 7th inst., the Prince handed to the minister
of the Porte the draught of a convention, or
special treaty, in which the new demands and pre-
tensions of Russia were set forth. This is the docu-
ment which has been distinguished as the ultimatum,
since it was accompanied by a very brief note fixing
Tuesday, the 10th of May, as the last day on which
the refusal or the acceptance of the Divan could be
received. The note terminated in nearly the follow-
ing words :—" If the Sublime Porte should think
proper to respond by a refusal the Emperor would
be compelled to see in the act a complete want of re-
spect for his person and for Russia, and would re-
ceive intelligence of it with profound regret."
In the draught of the proposed convention itself
the Porte is made to give to Russia a perpetual gua-
rantee for the maintenance of all the privileges, fran-
chises, and immunities enjoyed by the Eastern
church, and which it has received from
the predecessors of Abdul Medjid. Moreover,
the ambassador of Russia at Constantinople and
the consuls and agents of that power in the Ottoman
states are to have the right to protect that church
against all kinds of persecution and oppression. The
Patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria,
and Jerusalem as well as the metropolitan arch-
bishops and bishops, may not be deposed except for
a legitimate cause, and the beret of investiture
which they receive from the Porte, far from remain-
ing, as hitherto, a dead letter, will receive its full and
entire execution in all its clauses and dispositions.
Every favour and every advantage granted in the
Ottoman empire to any Christian communion what-
ever, will be by the simple fact the right of the Greek
church. The Porte will guarantee the maintenance of
the stateof thingsestablished by the recent firmansand
will also engage to change. nothing henceforth with-
out the previously obtained consent of Russia- I
Lastly, Russia will have the right to construct at
Jerusalem a church and a convent, to be served by
Russian priests and monks. To appreciate all the
significance of the Russian project, we must remem-
ber that it interests more than one•half the subjects
of the Turkish empire in Europe; and that in the
East, the distinction between church and state not
being made so broadly as with us, the jurisdiction of
the patriarchs and bi;hops extends to a multitude of
questions of civil order • so that a religious protecto-
rate may easily be made to assume another cha-
racter.

The Dames correspondent says :—" After receiving
Menchikoff's despatches of the sth, which threw
them into great perplexity, the ministers of the
Porte hastened to inform the French and English
ambassadors of their contents, demanding at the
same time their counsel and support. Lord Red-
cliffe, who seemed to see in this question a merely
religious matter to be settled between Greeks and
Moslems, made an evasive reply to the Divan.
(This statement agrees with that of the cor•
respondent of the Independence Beige.) We
are assured, in fact, that his lordship confined himself
to recommending the Sultan's ministers to respond
vaguely to the Prince, to appeal to the justice and
candour of the Emperor Nicholas, and finally to gain
time until he should himself receive a reply from his
government. At the same time he urged the Divan
to promulgate some measure favourable to the Chris-
tians of the East, so as at once to disarm Russia and
conciliate the public opinion of Europe. Lord Red-
cliffe then wrote to his government to state the new
turn which things had taken, and demand instruc-
tions. Such was the substance of the news brought
to Marseilles on the 15th by the Caradoc, and imams
diately transmitted to London."
Our own correspondent at Constantinople, writing
on the 9th, says :
"All is activity here, while the decision of the
Divan is still pending, and at the Porte, as well as
in the diplomatic circle, councils and conferences arc
of almost hourly occurrence. It is believed that the
ultimatum presented on the sth will be rejected.
To-morrow is the last day allowed by Menchikoff for
an answer. You have already been informed of the
settlement of the question of the Shrines, about
which Turkty has been so unfairly tormented,

basing no interest of her own in the matter. A
certain modification of the ministry has taken place
here. Ahmed Fethi Pacha, brother-in-law of the
Sultan, and Director of Artillery under Itesehid
Pacha, has been restored to that post. The Ministry
of Commerce, which thus becomes vacant, is assign.d
to Namik Pacha. • _

"After the presentation of the Russsian nnte,
about six p.m., the Foudroyant Russian war steamer
was observed steaming gillantly up the Bosphorus,
on her way, it was generally supposed, to Odessa.
Two hours later the Wasp started for England, and
finally, after midnight, the Chaptal for Mamilles.
The seemingly combined movement of this eminous
triumvirate gave rise to ail sorts of anxious surmist,s,
nor did the public mystitieatifm cease altogether till
the return of the Russian steamer quietly into port
on the following day. The fact is that Nlenehi-
koff, who goes about without parade, in simple
quaker costume, had been up to Buyukdke to pass
the night and visit his friend Logotheti at Zeui
Koi.

" Last advice, from Odessa state that the arma-
ments still continue, nod that 13,000 men had rein-
forced the corps darnii.e.
"Two Queen's messengers arrived here lust week
with despnchcs for Lord ltedclitle, the one trent Lon-
don, the other from Vienna, who returns to-day per
Trieste steamer. 1). I.ayard also started on the sth
inst. via Franee, iu all probability with information
and despatches kr the home government."
The Ottoman Vendors- has published an article
on the subject of the National hank. The firman
constituting the new estanlislituent is dated April 5.
The capital is 200,000,000 piastres, or 45,000,0001.
You ate aware that the objects of the institution
arc the reform of the currency, by the sithstitu-
tion of good money for the heehliks, alto
and other depreciated coins tow in circulation;
the exchange at par of the caimcs bealieg
interest for specie, to give greater stability to
the rate of exchange. I send you the names
of the directors of the bank, they are all men
of the highest standing and respectability. '1 he
names of 1). Gl..vany and C. II inson will alone suf-
fice to refute the invidious assertions which have
found their way into ono of the leading London
newspapers in reference to the bank administration.
The beneficial effects of this measure, though yet a
mere project, have been already for sonic time per-
eeptiblo in re-establishing public credit, and animat-
ing to a great extent commercial operations. The
pound sterling, not long since at 128, has fallen
nearly down to par—say 112-14.