The Express.
London, England, 1853-11-05 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 5, 1853.

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LONDO.Y. B.4TIIRDAT, NOVE.VBER 3.

-... .....

THE telegraph now states that the iirlit_rpy
Principalities have been declared in a state of
siege by their Russian invaders. " Mt:rial law
has been established." The Greek-Christian Out,
who pre:coded that he crossed the Turkish fr r. Tier
to " protect the Christians," now directs that
every Christian in Bucharest and eis.where,
shall be shot who dares to huid communi-
cation with any Turlcieh fellow-subject. Such
an abominabie order is just what those who opposed
Russian aggression expected the OAR to make.
Having seized his neighbour's territory in defiance
of right, justice, the law of nations, and the faith of
treaties, he now employs military cruelty to support
a piratical position. This last atrocity is a natural
follower of the first. He would hold his eerier:est by
a reign of terror. Yet this is the despot whom we
were told not to oppose ; this the mot:arch
whose rule is declared to be preferable
to that of the tolerant and liberel Sur.-
TAN ! Moldavia and Wallachia, which used to
send the surplus of their abundant harvests to feed
other portions of Europe where the people are en-
gaged in manufacturing pursuits, have now begun to
taste the bitterest pwtion of their new and unhappy
lot. It was bad enough to have their country over-
run, their houses taken possession ef, their Go-
vernment superseded, their chosen rulers de-
posed, and their substance appropriated by a mass
of foreign troops. It was enough tha: their
trade was paralysed; their taxes increased, and the
great highway of their communication with the
rest of Europe was closed. But evils accumulate
upon them under this" state of siege." Before this
fiat went forth no property was safe: now his
life is not his own. To be out:after dark—to be seen
talking with a couple of friends in the streets or in
the fields—to complain when property is seized or
friends or relatives are insulted—all, or any one of
these things under " a state of siege," is to be guilty
of a crime for which the penalty is fixed by any
brutal or greedy commander temporarily in power,
That penalty is usually—death. It is easier to shoot
• man than to try him, and a few musket shots are
found to be the readiest means of getting people out
of the way. Law is set aside, and the will of a brutal
soldiery put in its place. No superior courts can be
appealed to against wrong; no superior authority
dares to challenge the authority of military force.
To be suspected is to be guilty, and to be put to death.
Such is the Christian rule which the Czan, who went
to " protect the Christians," has established in the
Danubian Principalities. _ _

In Mr. OLIPHANT') timely volume, just issued, we
have a passage which at this moment has a peculiar
interest. He finds himself in the Bessarabian town
of Ismail—a place that has now for years been in
the hands of the Russians, as part of the coun-
try which they gained after a fashion they
would now lain apply to the Principalities.
Isma.,l is described as mean aLil straggling;
having but one thing in respectable order—
that one thing being a Cossack fortress to keep the
people in aubj,ction. Yet Ismael is the chief port of
a fertile province. " The resources of Bessarabia,'
Mr. OtiPHANT goes on to say, " are but feebly
developed, and it is in a far more depressed condi-
tion than the neighbouring districts." Excuses are
made by the Russians for this decay. They say the
people are too.free. The CZAR set the serfs against
their landlords, on the principle of divide and
conquer, and now when landlords are broken
down, and the serfs kept " well in hand" by
their Muscovite masters, the friends of the
CZAR declare that the reason why the country is
not more prosperous is, that the people are not serfs
in the Moscow sense of the term. Mr. OLIPIIANT,
who points out the absurdity of such pleas, indicates
also with great truth the real causes of Bessarabian

decay. "7l'he mel-administration of the local Go-
vernment, the intrigues and chicanery of the Russian
empt,e's, and the introduction of the prohibitive
system of the empire into a country previonely
enjoying a liberal commercial policy, form a combi-
nation of evil influences more than sufficient to
account for the unhappy state of this poverty-stricken
province." Then comes a prophetic passage :—" It is
interesting to observe the present position of Bessara-
bia, as affording us some idea of the probable result
of the annexation of the Danubian Principalities,
should that event ever take place. 11-e hare only to look
at the prosperous state of those provinces, as compared
with Bessarabia, to perceive how disastrous must
be tlic Trees of such an occurrence. It is not to be

wondered at that the inhabitants of Moldavia and
Wallachia dread the day when the blighting in-
fluence of Russian administration will be extended

along the shores of the Danube u far as the Aus-
trian frontiers; for in the past history of Bessarabia
they foresee their owa unhappy future." That
" blighting influence" is now acting with full force
upon them, and the fruitful yield of their magnificent
soil is in the hands of the enemy. Their trade stopped,
they are unable to supply England, Ireland, and their
other customers, with the corn they have hereto-
fore exported in exchange for manufactures. The
price of every loaf eaten by an English or Irish
labourer is thus made higher by the aggression of
the Ci %it, and the evil effects of the Russian inva-
sion brought practically home to our own doors. The
value of the trade of the Principalities to this
country is, indeed, far more important than
is generally recognised ; and the misery of
Moldavia and Wallachia will, if permit-
ted to contir.ue, he • growing mischief.
The trade of the Principalities (as we have often
urged) was one of rapid growth and increasing
value to Western Europe. They were able to send
to Great Britain alone a very large quantity of
grain, taking manufactured goods in exchange.
Let us throw the facts of the trade between Mol-
davia and Wallachia and Great Britain in a single
year (1451) into something like a tabuiar form, that we
may estimate at a glance the probable amount of food
that the Russian aggression may have stopped on its
way to thu countries of Western Europe, where the
harvests have this year been deficient: and the loss
of trade experienced by Great Britain in return by
the stoppage of a market for our manufactures.
Quarters.

The grain received by Great Britain. from
Galata in Moldavia in 1851 amounted to
no less than
The grain received by Great Britain from
Ibraila in Wallachia in 1831 .. 387,474
In exchange for this grain the Principalities took
in the same year (1631) from Great lir.tain—by way
of the two ports we have named, Galata and Ibraila
—manufactured goods of one else% alone amounting
in value to 454,6404 sterling. France, Italy, Holland
—indeed all countries where grain is wanted—shared
or might share this rapidly growing commerce.
Had the Principalities remained free, the coun-

tries of the West would soon have bosoms quite
independent of the products of the South of Russia,
and this doubtless sharpened the appetite of the
Cz to for their subjection to his rule. Mr. OLIPIIANT
says: - .

Just now the most increasing report of the Danubian
Principalities is Indian corn. An almost entirely new trade
has recently sprung up in this article, Ireland having
hitherto been the principal consumer. It it evident that
thew provinces are annually becoming more formidable is
rivals to the south of Russia. Wheat reported from the
Dsnube ranks higher, and o►tains better prises, in the
London market than Polish Odessa ; while there can be no
doubt that, if the eneouragment hitherto afforded by

foreign markets to these provinces be cautioned, kloldevia,
Wallachia, soil }tonna'lia will soon equally divide with
Russia the corn trade of the Black Sea.

A full conviction of the ruinous consequences of such a
result to the southern shores of the empire bat no doubt
operated powerfully in conducing towards the present un-
justifiable occupation of the Principalities; and even should
the designs of permanent annexation now entertained be
frustrated, and an evacuation of these Provinces ultim►tely
prove to be inevitable, Russia will be compensated for the
inconvenience of the movement by the soothing conscious-
ness that she has retarded for many years the commercial
prosperity of her meet dreaded rivals.

Late news declares that a tight between the troops
of GORTSCHAROFF and ONES PACIEt is likely to be
soon reported as having taken place near Krajowa.
If any such collision should _suit in favour of jus-
tice and the Turks, the Vienna telegraph may not be
permitted to c ,nvey the good news either very
rapidly or very accurately. Any Russian success
will, we may be sure, be trumpeted soon enough
and loud enough. But which way soccer the
earlier successes may go, it is clearly at once both
the duty and policy of England and France to
insist upon the earliest possible evacuation of the
Principalities by their invader. That evacuation is
the only way to lessen the now inevitable bloodshed
—the only step by which the misery of the Princi
polities may be shortened. Russia has made them a
battle-field, has inflicted on them the horrors of a state
of siege, and has at least secured the " consciousness
of having retarded for many years the commercial
progress of her most dreaded rivals." Compensa-
tion for these injuries might fairly be claimed; but it
is less than justice to demand that the occupation,
with all its losses, horrors, and sins, shall be termi-
nated at once.

Tie tir the spirit of chivalry is not extinct in our
age, but merely manifests itself under other forms,
is evident from the simple and touching account of
Lieutenant BELLOT given by Sir JAMES GRAIIAM
to the admirers of kind and generous valour, who
assembled yesterday to promote the erection of a
monument to that gallant and genial officer. It is
impossible to read of the eagerness of Lieutenant
Butor to take part in the attempt to rescue Sir
JOIIN FRANKLIN and his comrades, of his utter for-
getfulness of self, of hie regardlessness of the legiti-
mate vanities of rank, and of his promptitude to
encounter danger, without feeling that his soul was
akin to that of the English SYDNEY, who in
his death agony passed the cup of water to the
wounded soldier beside him. The true era of
chivalry was the refined and imaginative age of
SYDNEY and SPENSY.R, and BLLLOT was worthy to
take rank with its finest spirits.
Bettor was a specimen of human nature of which
all mankind may be proud. He was not the less a
true and worthy Frenchman. HENRI IV. Or GASTON
DE Foix were not more brave ; BAYARD was not
more true; FENELON was not mote imbued with the
spirit of all-embracing love.
Last, not least, BELLOT is one of the many links
which seem to be now conspiring to unite in lasting
amity the two great nations which are unquestionably
at the bead of European civilisation. The ante-
cedents of France and England single out these
countries as the especial champions of enlightenment,
toleration, and liberty. If either of them shrinks
from the task, it becomes recreant to the honours
won by its ancestors. To the completion of the
great task that has devolved upon them, it is indis-
pensable that they should act in common. And the
maintenance of a common policy, the joint labours to
attain a common end, cannot be the result of mere
abstract conviction ; a generous:international :sym-

pithy is required to ensure their steady and cordial
co-operation. Events are ripening such a reciprocal
affection, and rendering it habitual. The fleets of
England and France felt and acted as one body
off the coast of Syria, when the career of
laaatint was checked ; they are again presenting a
similar gratifying spectacle now in the Dardanelles.
They who had opportunities of observing the Syrian
operations can bear testimony to the frank and cor-
dial spirit in which the officers of the two nations
fraternised then. Subsequent events seemed to en-
danger the perpetuity of this brotherly accord, and
then it was that the full value of minds attempered
like that of Lieutenant BLitor was felt. " lie
served in the Pacific," said Sir JAMES GRAHAM yes-
terday, " at a moment when a passing cloud of national
difference somewhat overhung the relations between
England and France ; and it is remarkable that at
that very moment, when perhaps something of
Jealousy or angry feeling might have per-
vaded the sailors of those two great ma-
ritime powers, Lieutenant BELLOT was dis-
tinguished in the British navy, and by the officers
with whom he then associated, by the distinctive ap-
pellation of 'r.lnai des Anylais.' It is to the ex-
istence of such kindly and thoughtful natures in both
countries, that we owe the blowing-over of the few
temporary coldness°s or alienations that have of late
years arisen between them."

BELLOT was one of those whom men could wish
never to die, and yet whom a mysterious Providence
so often summons away in early life from a world
for which they are perhaps too good. There is
something grand as well as touching in his prema.
ture fate. While braving privations and danger in
a m!ssion of benevolence, he is snatchei away and
veiled from us amid the fearful storms of a region
cold and repulsive even in its beauty of crystalline
ice and spotless snow, lighted by a sun which for
weeks makes the circuit of the heavens without
setting. _

The monument to Bluifr, it is understood, will
be erected at or near Greenwich, where, "when he
embarked on board the Phosniv, his friends, both
French and English, bade him their last adieu." A
mare fitting site fur the monument of a gallant and
accomplished sailor cannot be imagined than that
where the great Observatory on our first meridian
looks clown upon the asylum coasecrated to our sea-
veterans. Let it stand there to remind every
Englishman and every Frenchman who approaches
our metropolis from the sea of the kindly and
elevated community of thought and feeling which
we hope will continue to unite the two peoples
and their navies, and of one of the finest spirits in
which these thoughts and feelings have ever glowed.

TIIE WINE DrTIEs.—A correspondent says :
Mr. o:ivoirs, M.P., having r,cantly mad an extenvive
per in Germany and the Smith of France, to collect infer-
Satinet upon the various questions involved in this impor-
tant subject, has for some (Ilya put been at Manchester,
far Vic purpose of obtaining the active co.operatina of the
mercantile and free tra le interests in that important city,
with a view to his intended motion fora reduction of the
duty on the reatsemblirg of parliament.
Gus ERNEm3k:S BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.—At the
half-yearly court yesterday three annuitants were selected
out of 126 canuidates. The third annuity had been raised
as a testimonial to the Rue. M. D. Laing, the honorary
secretary, for his exertion! during the last ten years.

THE STRIKES.

TILE STATE OF WIGAN.

- .1.--

(PROM OCR LOCAL CORIRSDONDERY.)
WIGAN, FRIDAY, Nov. 4.

We are by no means assured of the continuance of
peace, though a partial cessation of hostilities for a day or
two has taken place. Messrs. Blundell and Sons' colliers,
at Pemberton, who went to work on Wednesday morning,
have again turned out. They descended the shaft 'gain
yesterday morning, but after holding a meeting in the mine
determined to renew the strike. It appears that the com-
pany had agreed to give them the average price of a certain
circuit round Wigan, but the collier, complained that the
baskets were larger than those of the other masters by
which they were paid. Desirous of coming to terms, it is
said that Mears. Blundell were willing to make an allow-
ance which would strike an equitable balance on this bead;
but the trades delegates decided that it should not be
taken, and so the turnout was renewed. It is said the de-
legates have acted entirely upon a misconception of the
terms, and that this second strike is owing entirely to their
cupidity on a matter of calculation. The colliers of the
Hosier Hall Company, about eighty in number, resumed
work yesterday, on the eld terms, and the men at Me•srs.
Darlington and Co.'s mines went to Mr. Darlington yester-
day morning and offered to resume work, at an advance of
Id. in the shilling (instead of 2d.), but that gentleman de-
clined the offer. Several outrages were committed in the
neighbourhood of Wigan on Wednesday night. One was
at Aspull, where the cottages of some of the " kaobeticks"
were attacked and the windows were broken. Another
was at the Moss Hall Colliery, Ince, where a quantity of
powder was placed it an engine house belonging to one of
the mines, with the view of b!owiog it up. An explosion
took place, but fortunately none of the macliinery
was destroyed. One of the walls and roof of
the building were blown away, but the damage
will not exceed 101. This was between seven and eight
o'clock. A fusee, suck as colliers use, was found in the
ruins, but no clue by which the perpetrator of the offs tee
may be traced has yet been discovered.

Lost night a report was made to the magistrates at the
Public Hall about 11 o'clock, tliet a body of men had gone
to attack the house of Mr. James Darlington, Lace Greve.
lane, the report having originated with some colliers who
were assembling in a body at &holes, but after the police
and military had been turned out it was found to be a false
alarm. The colliers' begging carts have been stopped, as
was expected. A large body of colliers with two carts pro-
ceeded through the streets of Wigan yesterday morning,
and another last night, drawn by men' was seen in Pember-
ton. The fears of the people wonderfully stimulated their
charity, loaves, ham, potatoes, cheese. and other provisions
were easily extorted ; but at length Mr. Simms, the chief
constable, despatched officers to them requiring that they
should desist from this species of intimidation. The colliers
questioned the right of the police, or of the mayor, to in-
terfere with them, and talked of holding a public milting
to discuss the question; but after a little discussion they
thought it wise to withdraw. Deprived of these means of
support it is feared that they will reimburse themselves by
• more lawless system of plunder. The colliers are far
more daring and reckless than the factory operatives on
strike, and have committed robberies already in the
' country where property was unprotected. Potato-fields
have been dug up, and gardens have been stripped of their
vegetables. Large turtles go about the fields with dogs,
and conduct poaching operations in such preserves as there
are, in the most open manner.
Captain Woodford, of the county constabulary, has •
force of 73 men on the Ince side of Wigan, and of 11 at
Standish. The greater part of these, under Superintendent
Fowler, are stationed in seven different positions-23 at
Pemberton, 17 at Rosa-bridge, 8 at Alram, 7 at Mr.
Peace's, Haigb, 11 at the Saw Mille, awl 10 at Standish.
' The factory owners were to have held a meeting this
afternoon at the Victoria Hotel, Wigan, bat fearing to
excite • feeling among the operatives like that occasioned
by the master colliers' meeting last Friday, they have
postponed it. In feet, no useful result could flow from
' such a meeting, either here or at Preston. The coal
mines of Wigan supply fuel to the factories both of
Preston and Wigan, and the factory owners could
not resume work if they were willing until the colliers go
in. In fact, there are more difficulties attendant upon a
resumption of labour than most people imagine. 1.) elm
the colliery owners at Wigan resist this second demand for
an advance (for a rise of 161 per cent. was given in May
last), the strike will extend throughout the whole district.
The colliers are well organised, and their present arrange.
meat is that.° soon as the masters at Wigan yield, the
coal field, working at Clifton, Penalehury, and Bolton (on
which the factories at Manchester, Bolton, Bury, and Rat-
cliffe, mainly depend), shall be brought to a stand, unless a
similar advance be given. A victory achieved there, the
collieries at Ashton, Oldham, and Poyten (supplying the
immense industry of the towns south and east of Mooches-
ter), are to be stopped unleu the advance is given. The
great hope of the masters lies in defeating the conspiracy at
Wigan, and it is out improbable they will yet succeed;
for it appears that the colliers in the coal 11.1.1 s we
have last named have not supported those of Wigan on
strike so well as was promitied, and the disgust created
amongst the half-starved and suffering turnouts arising
from this cause is expected to do more to put an end to the
struggle than anything else. If the factory masters agreed
to give ti sir hands ten per cent. advance to-morrow, a coal
agent tells me, they would also have to give an advance '
of 40 to 50 per cent. for their coal, and the two advances
together would be a serious item. He says that an advance
of 100 per cent. to the people of Preston on coal has already
taken place through the strikes of the col.iers and other
circumstances since the early part of the year. There are
some large collieries here, and those of the Inca Hall Com-
pany, Messrs. Blundell, the Earl of Bikaner, Kirk-
less Hall, and Pearson's, run their own locomotives over
the railways to Preston and Liverpool, besides having canal
carriage to Liverpool. Preston is 16 miles distant, and is a
very large consumer. Manchester, a much larger con-
sumer, though only 23 miles distant, does not take one fifth
of the coal which Preston does from this neighbourhood,
owing to the heavy _charges of the railway companies, who
thus shut out the Wigan collieries to some extent from com-
petition with the colliers at Pendlebury, Oldham, Peynton,
end other places nearer Manchester. A circular signed
Timothy Coop was issued yesterday, convening a meeting
of gentlemen last night at the Public Hall for the purpose
of taking into consideration the present distress of the thou-
sands that are rambling about our streets in destitution, and
to take such measures as shall be deemed expedient for its
removal ;" but it appears Mr. Coop had not obtained leave
from the authorities to use the room, which is occupied by
the military, and consequently no meeting took place.

LATEST FROM ABROAD.

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.

VIENNA, FRIDAY.
An official communication from Bucharest says:
" Two thousand Turks appeared at Giurgevo and
fired into the town.

" In a conflict near Dam many Russians and Turks
were killed. The Turks retreated up the river, and
the Russians followed them.
" At Kalafat there are daily skirmishes.
0 The Turks respect foreign property under the
Austrian flag."
Another telegraphic communication is as follows:
" VIENNA, FRIDAY.

"The Vienna Presse confirms the intelligence of the
arrival of 7,000 Turks at Kalafat, and of the advance
of the left wing of the Turkish army, besides 8,000
of the Turkish reserve from Sophia.

" The vanguard, under NaMik Pacha and General
Prim, had a serious conflict with 2,a00 Russian
cavalry, between Kalafat and Krajowa. The affair
lasted two hours, when the Russians retreated
towards *Winn."

BELGRADE, Ocr. 21

The war with Russia has been proclaimed by Irma
l'acha in presence of the Servian ministers and digni-
taries.

FRANCE.

-

PARIS, TIII:IUIDAY EVENING.
The Petrie throws unqualified discredit upon the
rumours that have been current all the morning that
the Eastern question is settled. The Western
Powers (says this government journal) sincerely de-
sire peace, and are even now using their utmost
efforts to obtain it. But, while this is the general
wish, Russian diplomacy seems now, as on all similar
occasions heretofore, to have but one anxiety—
namely, to gain time, in order to take measures to
accomplish her object with greater certainty. This
is now known to all Europe, and the negotiations
now going on will receive a new element from this
open and apparent fact.
A letter from Toulon states that the Minister of
Marine has ordered a steam-frigate of the largest
size to be placed on the stocks, under the name of
the Imperatrice Eugenie. She is to be of SOO horse-
power, and is to serve as a model for several other
frigates of the same size, which are to be built at
Brest, Lorient, and Cherbourg. It is also stated
that another frigate, to be called the Foudre, is to be
built at Toulon. The screw steam line of bat•le-
'.hip the Tourville was launched at Brest on the
:Slat ult. She is of 040 horse-power, and is one of
the nine transformed vessels, which, according to
the report of the Minister of Marine, are to be
launched within the next two or three months.

The Journal de Indre et Loire says the judicial
inquiry following the recent arrests at Tours has led
to very serious discoveries, and that at Veretz the
police had seized in a deep cellar belonging to M.
Moreau, one of the persons in custody, two immense
wooden tubes intended to be used as cannons in case
of an insurrection.

The Journal do Saint Quentin mentions a seizure
at Bohain of 20 pounds of gunpowder at the lodgings
of three individuals lately arrived from Belgium.
Two of these persons, it is said, escaped, but the third
is in custody.
A prosecution bas been instituted against the
Concorde of Rheims, for publishing several articles
without a signature, and especially articles relative
to the murder of General de Nenilly. It is to be ob-
served that the law only requires a signature to
" political" articles, and it is not easy to see how a
narration of the Chalons tragedy can be brought
within the statute.

A correspondence from Vienna, dated in the even-
ing of the 30th ult., states the important fact that
the Austrian government had contracted a loan
with the imperial bank and several leading houses at
St. Petersburg.

PARIS, FRIDAY EvastNa.

Amid all this din of war it is a curious fact that
the opinion still is that the general peace will not
be disturbed, and that the quarrel between Russia
and Turkey will be arranged without any serious
loss of life. Private letters from Belgium speak of
King Leopold's efforts being earnestly directed to so
desirable an end, and with great chance of success.
Such a state of things has not often been witnessed.
A letter from Montpellier, of the Ist inst., states
that heavy rains continued to fall in that town and
neighbourhood since the 213th October, and had
caused considerable damage. The entire plain from
Beziers to the sea is flooded. The winter sowing,
fortunately, had not been commenced, and the
vintage was concluded. The roads from St. Pons,
Capestang, and Narbonne are rendered impassable.
Ileavl rains, accompanied by a violent hurricane,
fell on Thursday night in the departments of the
Bouches-du-Rhone, the Corrke, Ille-et-Vilaine,
Mayville, Tarn, by which enormous damage was
done in the country.
The Emperor, on the report of the Minister of
War, has decreed that the clerks of the bureaux of
the Intendence Militaire, who are chosen from the
army, but whose position has heretofore been infe-
rior to that of other administrative functionaries of
the War Department, shall henceforth form a section
(the 4th) of the personnel of the administrative ser-
vices of that department.
At the Bourse to-day the Three per Cents. fell
per cent., and the Four-and-a-Half per Cents., i
.per
cent., below yesterday's quotations. Closing prices
for money :—Three per Cent. Rentes, 73.55; ditto
Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 99.40. Bank shares,
2,1300.