The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-08 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 8, 1853.

from the style capacities which it has not yet dis-
played. In SOlllO of our public buildings, especially
in the no4e law buildings in Lincoln's-inn-fields, this
endeavour has been commenced with good success;
in • private 'teases, however, it has, as
yet, generally proved a failure. Nature is not
more abhorrent of a vacuum than the old
Tudor style, and indeed every Gothic style,
was of symmetry. Surely this fact is patent to
every man with eyes in his head. Yet we endeavour
to "develop" these styles by making them symme-
trical—witness the vile river-front of that otherwise
noble House at Westminster, and, in a lower way,
the " Elizabethan " houses in New OzWrd•street,
each the exact counterpart of its &How. Nature
makes nothing symmetrical, though ever hovering
upon the verge of symmetry. Artists know that
the two sides of a man's face arc never exactly alike ;
botanists know that if you pluck a thousand leaves
from the same tree you will not find two of exactly
the same shape and size ; likeness alone is not de-
lightful—it is a sign of impotence and idleness ; but
likeness in unlikeness is the smile upon the face of
Nature, and the heart of all the joy we take in her.
Let architects feel this truth, and there will be some
hope. _ _

But arc none of our young and enterprising
minds meditating upon the necessity of something
that will suit our new wants better than anything
that we can expect to make out of the old
Tudor? Does the present abundance of iron and
glass, coupled with our northern need of light—
which never could be quite satisfied by buildings in
brick and stone—suggest nothing more architectural
or better fitted fur private use than the Crystal
Palace ? Has the opportunity which walls of double
iron plates, filled between with air or sand, offer for
a thoroughly novel architectural art of interstitial
decoration, aroused no artistic mind' We trust that
things arc not so bad as they seem, and that the next
five-and•twenty years, and their additional hundred
miles of new street, will show us something better
than our "mud-hut" style, or than the newly gal-
vanised corpse of the long defunct lthie.

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
Our correspondent writes :

GALATZ. JULY 25.

Appearances here continue to be as warlike as ever,
and will be so until peace is fairly proclaimed. Every
one is at his post. Austria, we learn, daily embarks
on the Danube its munitions of war, which it lodges
in every fortress from Komorn to Pcsth, from Peter-
warden to Semlin. Its forces on the frontier are
estimated from 23,000 to 30,000 men.
On the right bank of the Danube, leaving Bel-
grade up towards Orsova, the Turks are encamped
near the towns, on the ricer side, or in citadels, in
groups varying from 1,000 to 3,000, and 6,000 men,
and even more, according to the importance of the
points to be defended. We saw them principally at
Belgrade, Widin, Nicopoli, Rutschuck, Silistria,
Czernavoda, and Hirtova.
The Commander-in-Chief, Omar Pacha, has fixed
the centre of his operations, and placed the main
body of his troops around the fortresses of Schumla
and Varna, having the Balkan in the rear southward;
this range protects the route to Adrianople; his re-
serve is at the south of the Balkan.

The Russians, to the number of 150,000 mon, have
advanced to the Pruth,and about 80,000 have crossed,
one-half of whom are in Moldavia, from Yassi up to
Galatz. A body of 3,000 cavalry left tLis city yes-
terday to range the Danube and go into the interior;
there still remains a small bcdv shout half an hour's
march from the town; we met the advanced guard at
Brinlow.

Two or three days since 7,000 Russian cavalry en-
tered Bucharest; 15,000 infantry, and 5,000 addi-
tional cavalry were expected to traverse the Danube
and eater Wallachia.
Truly, all this preparation speaks war, and firm
determination on one side and the other; bat cu-
riously enough, we meet with no one who does not
believe still in peace, so ardently do the trading
people of these parts desire it. Bitterly do they
I complain of the stagnation of commerce ; the steamers
hardly bring any people: it is an entire season lost.
Add to all this that there is now only 6} feet water
in the Bolin., passage in most parts, the only prac-
ticable mouth of the Danube, whereas in ord►nary
times, even after the inundations, which bring down
so much sand, when the waters return to their bed
there is generally a depth of from 10 to 14 feet.
There are 30 or 40 ships of different nations
blocked up in the strait, and many hundreds of car-
goes which cannot leave the Danube for the Black
Sea. Our steamer was obliged to lighten to make
the passage. The Russian dragging machine is
lying on an embankment, where it has been for
many years.
The Russian troops with the exception of the
officers, who are tolerable, present the,most deplorable
appearance, and are disgustingly dirty. The camp
and baggage are truly hideous on this score. The
cavalry are well mounted. The troops have no
energy, but the officers affect an ardour and enthu-1
gum of the first order, especially after dinner and
champagne. A great many stories more or less ridi-
culous are told of them.
Yon may rely upon it that on the score of religion
the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire desire no change
of master—perfectly free and fairly protected by the
liberal rule of the Sultan, they enjoy their fortune,
their commerce, and their creed—neither persecuted
nor despised by the Mussulmen, who are altogether
indifferent u to the religion of others, provided they
enjoy their own. Turkey is no longer what she was
half a century ago; no, nor even 20 years since--
nothing short of persecution will now awaken
fanaticism.