The Express.
London, England, 1853-11-21 00:00:00

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.

The Patrie has an article showing that the with-
drawal of the Turkish force from Oltenitza was a
measure of prudence, caused by the sudden change
of the weather, which rendered a further march
upon Bucharest impossible. Having failed in the
immediate object of the expedition, the Turkish
commander-in-chief must have been mad if he had
allowed a portion of his army
.to remain longer in
the position which they occupied, without a town
for their winter quarters, and without fortresses
for defense against the enormous force that the
Russians would be receiving daily from every
point. To have done this would have been to
expose to destruction a large body of troops who
will be required for the defence of the frontiers if in
the spring the Russians should cross the Danube,
and attack the Tarks on what may be more positively
called their own ground. Why Omer Yacht crossed the
Danube at a season of the year in which a single
day might break up the roads and prevent further
proceedings remains to be known. He may have
had excellent motives with which we are not ac-
quainted, and one of them may have been the neces-
sity of giving occupation to his troops and prevent-
ing the disbandment of his auxiliary corps, who
came to fight and desired an opportunity of proving
that they were worthy of takingthe field. Omer Yacht
has accomplished one great point. He has enabled his
army to feel that the Russians are not invincible,and
has raised its courage for new and more important
exploits. It is to be hoped that as the winter has
set in, diplomacy will take advantage of the suspen-
sion of arms to negotiate again for peace. It is pro-
bable that the Emperor of Russia will gladly avail
himself of this opportunity to display moderation,
for he must have found already that the Turks would
give him more trouble than he had expected : and if
he has convinced himself that with the opposition of
England and France, the utmost that he could hope
for after sacrificing forty or fifty thousand men, and
exhausting a treasury which even now is not in a
very brilliant state, would be a modified Vienna note,
he will be glad to retire from a contest which, for his
honour and interest, he ought never to have
provoked.
A letter from Alexandria of the sth announces
that a reserve of 3,500 sailors raised on the coasted'
Syria, had just started for Constantinople. These
sailors are intended for the Turkish and Egyptian
ships of war, whose crews will be thus brought up
to their full complement.
We read in a letter from Constantinople of the
sth :—" The Sultan went yesterday for the prayers of
Friday to the mosque of the Sultan Mehemet, and
there the Iman proclaimed the title of yhazi, which
has been given to the Sultan in virtue of a fetra
(decision) of the Cheik-ul-Islam. The word yhazi
must not be taken in the sense of ' victorious,' as cer-
tain persons believe—it means' warrior.'"
The following, according to the official report of
the agent of the Austrian .Lloyd's, at Oalatz, is an
exact account of the affair of Isaatchs. It differs
materially from all the preceding versions :
" Pursuant to positive orders issued by Prince
Ciortschakoff, a flotilla, composed of seven gun-boats
and two steamers, went to bombard the town of
Isaatcha, but the Turkish fire was so well kept up,
that they were obliged to retreat, after having lost
three of the boats. The fortress was not injured,
and the Turks had but three men killed, while the
loss on the Russian side was very considerable."
Halls Effendi, a Turkish poet, has just composed
a national song in the style of the " Marseillaime,"
; and it is already very popular at Constantinople.

AMERICA.