The Express.
London, England, 1853-02-24 00:00:00

THE STATE OF THE ROYAL DOCKYARDS.

TO TIM lIDITOR OP THI =PRIM

Srm.,—Allow me to may that the sooner the system
of so nation is done away with the better it will be
for all parties employed in her Majesty's service. It is, and
has been one of the gritattet evil/ existing even in dock-
t.i
Thew hstheewg spin the minds of the artisans the idea
thee the it superannuation is a bad one, and that
the time Douse for its situation, and that present pay-
ment for work performed is the only one that should exist
between the employer and the employed. If hist true, as I
was told by some of the piaci* dicers of the dockyard to
which I belong in en interview that I recently had with
them, that the principal reason why the government pay is
so much lower than that of private yards is, that so much
per day is kept back from our wages, in order to pro-
vide for our superannuation—if this be true, then at
what a fearful rate are we paying for that which not more
than MO in eight either lives or stays to eujoy; and what is
the iskistios of the system which robe us of our daily
wages, sod which, when say of us die or have the service
peadeneb to our becoming entitled to superannuation,
imam thinks of either refunding to us the amount
kept back from our wages, or is case of death of
made, a compensation to our bereaved families, although
we while living are made to pay for a provision for our.
Wm, of which there is seareely a chance of our ever enjoy-
lag. Let any one for a moment think of paying at the rate
of six shillings per week, for a period of from thirty and in
many cases of fifty years, for the pittance of 24 pounds per
annum, the highest rate of superannuation ever given to
any of the workmen employed in the royal dockyards, and
he will then be convinced that in our cue, at heat, it is true
that " • bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
But while expressing myself thus of the evil of the aye-
tam now in force, surely no government, however consti-
tuted, would be guilty of the injustice of depriving those
esmaget us of that provision in their old age for which they
have so many years been toiling and paying. Let their
case be fairly met and honestly dealt with, and then the
sooner the false scheme of superannuation, from the highed
to the lowest of all ker Majesty's servants, is for ever abo-
lished the better, and let the only inducement for us to
remain in the service be the regularity of employment and
remunerative wages.
With many thanks for the way in which you have advo.
cased our claims, I am, sir, your obedient servant,
February 9. A DOCKYARD ARTISAN.

- fentretso.

•
TO CORRISPONDENTIL
a reel a mks The Zaprass," esabiaft the rate ember
"Oeeette,"L pabitsbel wary Tuesday rd Phis, eight, fla rise
Or pea-
A Wee lawareits lallaidal for TM la pram" Leaden laming paper,
exast be at th• le, Ibreawirelnat, by ?we o'.k,b ea tile
tay et pabbisitles.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Par DAT—Maral•r. Mu ISai Mamma. 2i. sls.
fe-seassw—llerairg. It. 13sh. Ahllialas SC 32..

TURKEY, AUSTRIA, AND
MONTENEGRO.

We yesterday published a letter from tar Cos.
stantinople correspondent, giving the SA. -ranee of
General Leiningen 's ultimatum to the Port., as also
the quick sharp reply of the Grand Vizier. If these
documents be genuine, and we have good -,son for
believing them so, the Porte is determined c 1 show a
bold front to the machinations of its north ; a neigh-
bours. The demands of Austria have be o unhesi-
tatingly rejected, and, should the latter .ersist in
them, war with Turkey is inevitable.
These demands, as given by our correspeutiOnt, are
ltn."lg. Turkey could not
humiiiatio 1, and the
nacc%t
poteltilyennanjwusitthbouut in
without
national
well-known character of Mehemet Ali—t he present
Grand Vizier—gives us assurance that they have not
been accepted.
The first condition required by Austria is, the
cession of sovereignty, on the part of Tut over
certain territories. To this demand the 'orte an-
swers that they shall cede no territory—" ••:. a hair's
breadth." The second demand of Austria 1- that she
shall hereafter be considered the protect°. .1 Chris-
tianity in the Turkish provinces adjoining aer own.
The reply to this is, that the Christian po •atation of
these provinces want no protection, and lc•ist of all
the protection of the House of Hapsburg. In his
answer the Vizier takes occasion to point • ut that
the Christians of the Turkish empire haN• .tot only
been tolerated, but that the "most perfect utonomy
exists in the administration of their religi,..- aftuirs."
He farther reminds the Austrian envoy or :he pro-
testant persecutions which have taken plaee, and are
at this moment going on in Hungary. The third
demand made by Count Leiningen is, a rceognition
on the part of the Porto of the lucky. ttlence of
Montenegro. In refusing this, the Grand Vizier la-
conically refers to the conduct of Austria herself in
relation to Hungary and Italy.
With regard to the first of these singular demands,
we may state that the territories, the cession of
which is required by Austria, aro some small islands
on the Dalmatian coast, near the port of Cattaro. In
the language of one of our contemporaries, well
known for its zealous exertions in the sere Ice of Aus-
tria, these islands are "claimed" by Turkey. And
so they are, precisely in the same manner as the Isle
of Man is "claimed" by England. Austria has not
the shadow of a claim upon them, farther t tian that,
for certain reason., it would be convenient her to
possess them.
Still less claim has she to become the " pt .tector of
Christianity ;" she who at this moment if in the
midst of a series of persecutions, guested not only
against the protestant Christians, but U.:• catholic
communities dwelling upon her own soil.
The Grand Vizier challenges a parallel to Ce drawn
between the condition of the Christians inhabiting
the Turkish provinces and those in the adjoining
territory of Austria. He may safely do so, for it is
well known to all who are acquainted with the Da-
nubian principalities that not only are the Christians
permitted a free exercise of their religion, but that
they exclusively possess that right. In Moldavia
and Wallachia the Turkish religion is forbidden. In
Servia it is confined to the garrisons uf Turkish
troops, and from Montenegro it is altogether ex-
cluded; and this limitation and exclusion has its
origin in generous laws of toleration made by the
Turks themselves, and not only made, but olmer red
to the very letter. The truth is, if any sect have a
reason for getting up a cry of persecutio.: in reli-
gious matters it is the Turks themselves, and not
the Christians whom Austria is so anxious to " pro-

The third demand of Count Leiningen is the in-
dependence of Montenegro. We need not dwell
upon the singularity of this demand on the part of
Austria. It is absolutely absurd. With en equal
show of reason might she require the indt ~endence
of Ireland, or the separation of Scotland from the
British crown.

But Europe is at this moment wondering by what
plea Austria will justify this interference in the
affairs of Turkey. As yet she has offered none that
will satisfy the judgment of the civilised world.
Onr correspondent has furnished us with the only
justification which she has attempted, and that is
that some Turkish vessels containing troupe passed
through Austrian waters, and this she affects to con-
sider a " violation of her territory !" Te that she
has added the flimsy pretence of " Christi:4n protec-
tion." Never was there a more positive illustration
of the fable of the "Lion and Lamb."

We need not dwell upon the untenableness of both
these pleas. The former is simply ludic! ous ; and
as for the " Christian protection " plea, it is all a
"sham," a cloak to cover ulterior designs. By it
she expects to enlist the sympathies of Western
Europe, and, in a sort of modern crusade in con-
' nexion with Russia, be quietly permitted to dismem-
ber and partition the empire of the Moslem. Let
England be cautious of such crusaders. They will but
waste their sympathy who bestow it upon such a
cause. Christianity has far less to fear from the per-
secution of the Sultan, than from the " protection"
either of the Czar or his Austrian Satrap.

FRANCE.

(DT ITJBMAILINI

PARIS, THURSDAY MORNING.
M. De la Corr, Minister of France at Vienna, is
appointed Ambassador at Constantinople, and M. De
Boarqueney is appointed Minister at Vienna.

[DT ELECTRIC SELIG/ALPHA
PARIS, WIDNIEDAT EVEXIMO.

A decree in this morning's Monifeur nominates
M. Fremy, Councillor of State, to the post of Di-
rector-General of the Interior. He will continue to
be attached to the section of public works, agriculture
and commerce. By another decree, dated yesterday,
M. Henri Chevreau is appointed Councillor of State.
M. Visconti has been appointed Architect to the
Em_peror.
The Academy of Sciences have elected Marshal
Valliant, by a majority of 54 to 8, in the room of the
late M. Heron de Villefosse.

The fund. have been steadier to-day than for a
week past. A fall of S centimes on the Three per
Cents. was compensated by an equal advance in the
Four-and-a-Half, the latter closing at 105 f. 90c. for
cash, and the Threes at 80f. 60c. Bank Stock de-
clined 51., closing at 2,805 f. ; and, with the exception
of a few sales of Northern and of Lyons share.,
railway stock seemed to-day to be quite neglected,
and prices unaltered from want of transactions.
The uneasy sensation previously noticed respecting
affairs in the east of Europe is by no means abated.
The Debate states that as soon as the Divan became
aware of the demands of Count Leiningen, of
which he demanded an answer within five days, it
immediately called to its councils the representatives
of France and England, with whom Fnad Effendi
held several conferences in rapid succession. The
precise tenor of the Austrian demands does not ap-
pear; but it is pretty certain (continues this authority)
that one of them requires the expulsion of the Ilia-
prism and Polish refugees. It is hoped, however,
that the Porte will be able to resist this requirement
more successfully now than it did in 1849. The
energetic demonstrations then made by France and
England gave peat strength to the Sultan's govern-
ment. According to Rwhid Pacha's phrase, Turkey
has lived on them ever since ; and it is hoped that
the same generosity will not be wanting to it in this
juncture.
M. Auguste Heartier, appointed on a commercial
mission in China and the eastern prov incee, ls to
sail immediately for Macao in the steam-corvette
Colbert.
M. Pages Dupont, editor of the Union, M. Tanski,
and Messrs. Lowenfeld, Hartmann, and Etienne, oor-
terpondents of the German press, have been liberated
with a simple caution.
The budget for 1854 will be brought before the
Legislative Assembly early in March.
Public securities varied little to-day on the Bourse;
the Three per Cents. opened at 80fr. 35c., and closed
at 80fr. 40c. for the end of the month. The Four-
and-a-Half per Cents. closed at 105 fr. 95e.
M. Kalbermatten, general on duty at Rome, and
his aide de-camp, M. Desjardins, residing some
months at Erian, in Savoy, having enrolled some
Swiss in the Pontifical army, have just received
notice to quit the Sardinian States within six days.
It was reported in Vienna, on the 21st, that the
settlement of the differences between Austria and
• the Porto had been proposed and was referred to
France.
The German papers state that a rising was in-

ticipand to l'esth, and fears were entertained of a
generil outbreak. The police in l'esth had arrested
tr.ot Ilt r• in the Hotel d'Angleterre. The writ.
wm ,as under arms, and ready to act at a moment's

Thee o nothing new from Madrid. The Three
Der Cents. *ere done on the 17th at 42.

:Our usual French despatches had not arrived when
ire scat to press.]

PARIS. TCLIDAY Evaniss._

It appears that people to whom the benefit of the
amnesty was extended, are nevertheless
subjt et, dto annoy ing surveillance, amounting
is ow. eases to a prohibition against the only pm.
stral nitaus of gaining their livelihood. M. Duchene,
foe of the editors of the suppressed journal, the
potpie, one of the persons transported to Belle Isle,
was inelultd in the amnesty granted upon the oeca.
jon of the proclamation of the Empire. Rs is now
in this posittoo. lle resides at Beaumont (Indre andl
jpiev', and finding no employment there, he wishes
to axle to Pais. The authorities will not grant him
leave unleas he can prove that he has a domicile, and
the means of subsistence at Paris, but these are the I
very things he desires to seek there. He thus de-
/tribes, in a letter to a friend, the difficulties in which
be is placed :
,aa..4 cq into the seine and Oise, becalms the Em-
peror has a rrtidenee at St. Cloud. From Seine and Marne
`:m rzeluckd on account of Fontainebleau. Compiegne
keeps me oat of the Oise. A gendarme paid me a visit the
ether day, to beg me not to stay too lone at Beaumont, and
the e mmissary of p Iwo of the department has signified
that be bat no desire to see me at Tours. Time hang lean
heavily upon my hands at Belle dale than it has dose heir*
within tits Litt fortnight. If this sort of thing continues I
gall co
A hosier of Marseilles, named Sauna, has just
leen tried at Aix, upon the charge of having offered
to kill the Emperor. An Austrian refugee, named
Nerinutin. a music muter and teacher of langna.
Marseilles, aseilles, deposed that, on December 5 last, -he
enured Sauvan's shop to buy a pocket handkerchief,
and while paying for his purchase, said to him—
" Well, yeu must bo contented now. Yon have got
the empire. and business goes on weU." Sauvan
answered, " If it depended on me, there would be
an end of the empire and the Emperor as 'well. I
proposed to the Marseillaise democrats to go to Paris
to kill Napoleon 111. I wanted 100,000 f., but they
would only give me .10,000 f., and proposed to me to
go to Jersey to ask some political refugees there
to make up the sum." Normann declared
that during three days he was much troubled
in his mind by this declaration, and that after much
rtflection he came to the conclusion either that
Sauvan must be a spy, in which cane it would not
be safe fur himself to remain silent, or that he must
be a heedless braggart, and that at all events the best
course was to denounce him. A merchant and a cap-
toils of national guards gave Sauna a good charac-
ter as a friend to order ; and the court, thinking he
bad only spoken in jest, pronounced him not guilty.
Such jests are crimes, but another baseless case of
treason has lately broken down under circumstances
truly ridiculous. A member of the municipal coun-
cil of Commercy (Meuse), was accused by anonymous
letter of having with a knife pierced a hole in an
engraving of the Emperor's bead in the title-page of
is alma& lie was immediately arrested and
inotbt to trial. The report says that when the
prison, r made his defence the facts of the case lost all
their gravity, and so I presume did the judges, for it
Mirelthat tho postman who sold the alsonook
l ooned a string through a quantity for the or-
Temente of carriage, and by accident his traitorous
bodkin bad made a hole in the image of Nepotism
111. The court acquitted the prisoner, and took an
opportunity of condemning the practice of anonymous
later.wnting—a censure which perhaps the public
grameator would do well to bear in mind another
dap.