The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-16 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

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CHARLES WILLMER, and those from London may be seen
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1833

DESPATCHES received by submarine telegraph
from Vienna, inform us that hostilities were re-
newed near Bucharest on the morning of the 11th.

An opinion prevails that OmEa PACHA will venture
to make a passage of the Danube above Galatz,

with the view of reaching Moldavia.

It is stated that between 90,000 and 10,000
Turks have already crossed the Danube. The

report is accredited at the Turkish Embassy,

The Wanderer publishes a. letter from Bucharest,
of the 6th instant, stating that, after a series of

murderous conflicts on the 3rd, 4th, and sth, the
Turks sustained their position on the Wallachian
bank of the Danube, while the Russian forces took
refuge in their intrenchments near Oltenitza.

Advices from Kalifat of the 3rd, state that on

that day the Turks had not quitted their position,
as they were awaiting reinforcements to march upon

Kraz ova.

The communications between Galatz and Odessa
have been interrupted since the 28th.

Advices from ConstaiAinople of the 31st ult.
state that the Turks hay. 3 obtained possession of
several Russian forts in Georgia and the Caucasus.
These forts are Cartoor, which was taken by the
Kurds; Fuhler by the troops from Damascus; and
Surmine Istrat and Kuchat by the Bachi-Bozouks.

The National Zeitung, commenting on the late
brilliant success of the Turks, speaks as follows :
" This manifesto invokes the name of God, and

calls the cause for which Russia has taken
up arms, the just and holy cause of God. The
Sultan did not think fit to expose the shirt of the
Prophet; the Scheik-ul-Islam took care not to pro-
claim a holy war. It is against Russian usurpation
that the lurks are defending themselves, and not

against Christianity. It is not a struggle between
the crescent and the cross—between two religious
professions; but a weak empire, recently entered
into the path of reforms, defends its existence
against the aggression of a powerful empire, which
exists only by servitude and intolerance. The
Russian manifesto has not the right to say that it
is a war for the Christian faith. There is nothing
holy in the war which Russia has excited. A
usurpation, anything but Christian, has caused
Russia to arm : a temporal and mundane domina-
tion at all price, that is the symbol of its orthox,
faith."

Full particulars of the glorious victory recently
won by the valour and intrepidity of the Turkish
troops may shortly be expected. The following
incidents, however, have appeared in the Copirte
Zeitung's Correspondenz

"The island in the vicinity of Turtukai forms a natural
battle-ground (Wafenplatz). The troops with which the
Turks made a beginning on the 2nd, after a corps of about
14,000 men had been concentrated between Tschatalsha and
Turtukai, remained concealed in the bushes, favoured by the
fog. On the 3rd about 6,000 men were posted on the
island, 2,000 were on board of barges ready to be conVeyed
t 3 the opposite shore, and about 4,000 or 6,000 men had
already landed on the left bank. During the night from
the 3rd to the 4th inst., the passage was attempted over the
smaller arm of the river near Oltenitza, and was also
carried out by force of arms. The 2,000 troops on board
the barges sailed around the island, and were the first to
reach the Wallachian shore. The Russian pickets were
posted along the Danube. One of these pickets was at
g Oltenitza; the reserve were posted the -distance of a shOt
behind this place, amounting altogether to about 5,000 men.

During the combat reinforcements arrived. The engage-
ments commenced at dawn of day. On both sides the troops
fought with bravery and perseverance. The cannonade
lasted unremittingly for eighteen hours. Towards noon,
the contest seemed to draw to a closelby a retreat of the
Turks to their vessels but was soon renewed. In the even-
ing the Turks were established along the river side, and the
Russians behind Oltenitza. The conflict is described as an
exceedingly murderous one, and the losses on both sides
must have been very considerable. The Russians performed
all that could have been expected of them, considering the
disproportionate numbers of the enemy. But the Turks
also fought with a bravery inspired by an extraordinary de-
gree of fanaticism, which is likely to destroy the illusion
which many have hitherto indulged in with regard to the
military prowess of the Turks. On the sth the cannonade
was resumed."

THE present position of the affairs of Europe is
beginning to show that the despotic powers view
all Constitutional Monarchies with the same dis-
trust and abhorrence which they have always be-
stowed on those minor Free States whose subjugation
they have undertaken for their own safety. At a
moment when the great and vitalising institutions
of Constitutional Monarchy may be said to have
gained a decisive victory over mere theories, gnd
are beginning to mould themselves gradually into
the shape of democratic forbearance, and enlight-
ened toleration—when the national mind appears
resolved to uphold all that is really good and use-
ful, and, at the same time, to resist the dogmas
of the experimentalist, we find the despotic powers
endeavouring, by force of arms, and political in-
trigue, to strike a deadly blow at the constitutional
charter of this and other States.

Looking at the power and prevailing disposition
of these absolute Monarchies, and the jealousy and
alarm with which they view the march of Consti-
tutional Empires, the time has arrived when Eng-
land must form a series of new international rela-
tions, which shall combine, in one great bond of
mutual support, all those Constitutional States now
in existence, in order to check and resist success-
fully those despotic rulers who would have their
will both the national and international law of
Europe.
Opposed to this necessity we shall have to combat
the opinions of many leading Constitutional autho-
rities, who believe that the cause of rational freedom
has out-grown all risks and dangers ; but if we look
to the broad map of Europe we will find that the
Constitutional States are few and far between, and
the space really reserved for the enjoyment of the
blessings of civil and religious liberty is still less
and wider apart. These facts, when carefully
weighed, at once account for the gross bigotry
and effrontery of those petty Despots who have so
recently outraged the better feelings of European
manliness. These demon fry who refuse their
people the right of thought, and so deprive them
of the divine power of action, must indeed view
with deep concern the rapid progress of those
nations whose onward bent is the result of an un-
bridled mind.

Human energy, subdued by the base and degrad-
ing suspicions of tyrannic rule, is incapable of the
toil that makes the freeman independent, and Con-
stit'utional Nations great. Industry being laid
prostrate, virtue forsakes the homesteads of the
despotic States, and the vile cupidity of their rulers
has its millions of savage tools ready for the ac-
complishment of their worst designs. Call this
the legend of bygone times, but still it will serve
as the mirror of to-day. There is no weakness
greater than a belief iu man's perfection. On this
head persuasion must be resisted and safety secured
by stripping the hypocrisy of maudling partisan-
ship of all insolent assurances and glaring false-
hoods.

The despots of Europe are as much the foes
of Constitutional Government, as they are the ene-
mies of red Republicanism.. The former destroy
by rational progress what the latter would put at
once to the sword. The fear induced by the pre-
sence of these two elements in Europe has spread
from Vienna to the citadels of Cabal and Lahore,
taking in its way the AUTOCRAT of Russia, with his
millions of unenlightened tools. Austria's bank-
rupt condition alone holds her back from display-
ing the woman-flaying banner of the House of
Hapsburgh, on the Turkish frontier. Russia
has already taken the field to extend and perpetuate
her despotic sway; and while she professes her un-
shaken. friendship for England, she endeavours to
call to her aid the most savage enemies with whom
we have to deal. For friendship's sake she rouses
the worst feelings of the Tartar tribes upon our
Indian frontiers, and to retard our progress she
would curtail our Empire.
It is true, that in Turkey the CZAR may find a
second BELISARIUS, and that England may even-
tually be induced to play the part of another
JUSTINIAN, by paying a sum of money to restore the
peace of Europe; but this will effect nothing. The
non-productive elements of one portion of the
human family. must as assuredly feed on the pro-
ductiveness of another, as that the locusts are
compelled to migrate and spread themselves over
those plains which are more fertile than the land
that gave them birth. Insanity, or this stern ne
cessity, is all that can be urged in extenuation of
the CZAR'S aggression on Turkish territory. If
war be with him a necessary condition in the
existence of his dominion, what guarantee has
England that an invasion of her territory, where it
is possible, will not be attempted?
In India our military exploits have raised a
HARDINGE and a GOUGH to the Peerage and to
wealth, but have they Won us the friendship and
allegiance of the Affghans and the Sihks ? Shall
we again have to force tho Khyber Pass under the
fire of Russian guns, to extend our military occu-
pation of Scinde, and withdraw our troops from
Lahore. These are the dangers to be apprehended
from the existence of [such despotic states as
AUSTRIA and RUSSIA ; and to keep them effectually
in check, the only means left is the close alliance
of the Constitutional Powers of Europe. With this
view America might not be tuiwilling to lend her
powerful aid, and thus we may be -spared a season
of bloodshed, which a less comprehensive line of
policy might produce.
Russia, in breaking through her treaties with
England and France, can scarcely be admitted into.
a fresh alliance with these Powers. She must,
therefore, seek Austria and Prussia as her allies,
with as many of the small despotic fryas she can find
on the Continent; and if she meets with the success
which may naturally be supposed to attend her
overtures, the political equilibrium of. Europe will
be no longer maintainable. The Cabinet that takes
upon itself to deal with matters of such grave
rational import in the council chamber, assumes
the highest functions of the legislature, and we
trust that such an assumption will be amply
justified by the results it may produce.

A DEMONSTRATION recently made, by a few en
thusiastic teetotallers at the Corn Exchange in
Manchester, furnishes topics worthy of comment.
The gentlemen met to organise a new association,
and get up a national agitation, with the view to
suppress all traffic in spiritous liquors and in
intoxicating drinks, by legislative enactment.
We have all heard how the State of Maine, the
extreme north-east nook of the American confede-
ration, rendered herself conspicuous, if not ridicu-
lous, by pushing the temperance principle to the
same outré extreme. This Manchester movement
exhibits its Masters-of-the-Ceremony emulous of
like celebrity.

When we note among the leaders such men as
Mr. JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM, Dr. F. R. LEES, of
Leeds, and Dr. JABEZ B URNS, of London, we are
quite prepared to look out for some extraordinary
display, and an ultimate injury to the cause they
essay to promote.

In lintine, let it be distinctly understood, that
we by no means oppose that great moral and reli-
gious movement, embodied in the Temperance
Societies, which has been so successful in Britain
and America, in the partial suppression of a for-
midable and an appalling vice, and the snatching
of millions from the drunkard's grave. On the
contrary, we advocate that noble effort of philan-
thropy and mercy ; and so long as the champions
of that cause shall restrict themselves to the
legitimate limits of moral suasion, just so long
will they find us by their side to uphold their
hands.

But the movement in question is of a
very different character, and calls for the
stern and steady rebuke of the `public
Press. It is an effort to substitute a penal enact-
ment of law, for what exclusively belongs to the
pulpit, the platform, the press, and moral influence.
It goes upon the principle of restoring that long
since exploded barbarism embodied in the sump-
tuary laws. It assumes to tell man what they shall
eat, and drink, and sell, and buy ; and to coerce
them to obedience in that line, by pains and penal-
ties. The enactments they propound, are to stand
out equally against beer and wine, as against gin
and rum; for, not content with prohibiting traffic in
".spirituous liquors," they include all "intoxicating
drinks " as well.

Now it appears to us that the gentlemen who
made such a spectacle of themselves at the Man-
chester Corn Exchange, have not learned to
discriminate between penal coercion and moral
restraint. There are many social vices, to which the
municipal laws of the country cannot extend, lest
they encroach on the civil rights of the community;
and we regard the vice of intemperance as one of
those. True, a brawling drunkard in the streets
may be taken up and fined—simply because
he disturbs the public peace, and becomes a
nuisance. In the abstract, he has the right to
make a beast of himself if he will; so he disturbs
not others :—Sic Were tuo, ut alienum non ledas,
being as applicable to this personal right, as it is
to the rights of property.

But the principle assumed in this movement goes
much farther than merely to restrain men from
getting drunk. It says, that, men shall not traffic in
an article that may be abused. It declares that the
legislature, by penal enactments, should prohibit
the citizen from buying or vending anything
that may be perverted to an injurious use. It
seems to us, this is a flagrant attack upon the rights
of conscience. Let us see. Men often injure them-
selves by an excessive use of tobacco; so, to carry
out the principle, traffic in that article must be re-
strained by penal enactment. Others again take
opium, to the injUry of health, and the shortening
of life; so the traffic in opium must be restrained
by law. A great many others (aldermen included).
injure themselves, get dyspepsia and gout, and cut
short the thread of life by over-feeding on roast
beef; hence, traffic in beef must be restrained by
pains and penalties. Ay, even the gentle sex, the
lovely ones of creation, often injure health, break
down the constitution, and shorten life—the elder
ones by the excessive use of tea, and the young
nymphs by the use of busks and tight-lacing ; so
tea, busks, and stays must be driven out of market
by penal statutes !

Why, really, our friends of the Corn Exchange
have taken an onerous task upon themselves. The
names of the social mischiefs are legion ; and we
wonder when our friends were about it, they did
not make a clean sweep of the whole batch, so as
to entitle themselves, par excellence, to the designa-
tion of " RADICAL REFORMERS."

There is no use in going but half way in these
matters. When men assume a principle, they are
bound by considerations of consistency to carry it
out in all its corollaries and sequences. But, if
after "putting their hand to the plough, they look
back," they are not fit .to be entrusted with the
great concern of SOCIAL REFORM.

Mr. David M'Clellan, woollen draper, Prices
street, with a zeal untempered by the slightest
particle of discretion, has thought proper to rush
into print, and charge one of our reporters with con-
cocting, in collusion with some agent of Alr.
Shrivall's, a report of an affiliation case, in which
the latter gentleman was the defendant, " utterly
contrary in every respect to the facts of the case,
as most clearly developed by the evidence pro-
duced." Being himself, to some extent, interested
in the result of the- case, Mr. M'Clellan was
scarcely an impartial judge; and had he taken a
little time to reflect, (a precaution to which we fear
he is not much prone), he would scarcely have
placed himself in the ridiculous position which he
now occupies. The liberty of the Press is one of
the favourite topics of declamation in which men
of Mr. M'Clellan's calibre indulge ; in theory they
proclaim its unfettered freedom, in practice they
are the most petty and despicable despots in exist-
ence. Mr. M'Clellan's name happens to become
mixed up.—whether justly or otherwise we do not
stop to inquire,—in a case in which a female seeks
to affiliate a child on Mr. Shiivall. The case is ad-
journed fora week; in the meantime, Mr. M'Clellan
hears that his name is brought in question. and he
rushes to our office—denounces. the system of ad-
ministering justice in Courts with closed
doors, as directly at variance with the spirit
and intention of our Constitution, and in-
vites us, and, he says, us alone, to send a
reporter to demand admission on the adjourned
hearing of the case which took place on Saturday
last. Our reporter is present, with many others ;
and, exercising a sound discretion, he does not gra-
:tify the desire of Mr. Arelellan, who wishes that
our columns Should be filled with a lengthened re-
port of a case which might indeed gratify pru-
rient curiosity, but would scarcely add to the repu-
tation of the conductors of this Journal for the ex-
ercise of a sound and wholesome discretion in the
admission of reports of a very exceptionable cha-
racter ; and because this discretion is exercised,
Mr. M'Clell.an (liberal-minded :man) instantly des-
patches a note, demanding his account, and order-
ing the discontinuance of his paper. Strange to
say, we have expunged Mr. David M'Clellan's
name from our list of subscribers; and notwith-
standing its erasure, the NORTHERN DAILY TIMES
still exists, and is likely to do well. We may add,
we shall be happy to perform the same operation
for any other gentleman who shall attempt to dic-
tate how this JoUrnal is to be conducted, even at
the risk of exciting a prophetic exclamation as to
our fate from Mr. M'Clellan!

But apart from this consideration the matter
assumes, in our eyes, a far more serious aspect. A
charge of collusion is madel against one of our re-
porters, who may be, for aught he knows, as
little susceptable of improper influence as the
gentleman who makes the charge professes to be,
What are the facts ? Our reporter 'seems to have
acted independently of both parties. The solici-
tations of Mr. Shrivall to suppress the case alto-
gether were unheeded, and on the other hand the
disgusting details -which Mr. M'Clellan was so
anxious to have given to the world were suppressed,
and the facts of the case briefly, but correctly,
given in the main, notwithstanding Mr. M'Clellan 's
distinct allegation to the contrary. We subjoin
the correspondence which Mr. M'Clellan has
thought proper to publish :

TO THE PUBLISHER OF THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.

SIR, Pleas:, give the bearer anaccomt of what I owe
you for the DAILY TIMES to thisdate, and discontinue
sending me the paper. The report in the DAILY TIMES
of this morning of the case of Mr. Shrivall is so utterly
contrary, in almost every respect, to the facts of the
case, as most clearly developed by. the -evidence produced,
that I cannot believe it can have arisen from acci-
dent, or even the stupidity of your reporter, but must

THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.