The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-28 00:00:00

THE CRIMEA.

(nom

OtIR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Camp at Sebastopol, Jan. 12, 1856.
The only event of any interest that has occurred
uurieq the last week, has been the final destruction
of ttie docks on our side of Sebastopol. --
4;l:anent of these splendid works Nv
destroyed on Tuesday last. A great concourse of
fal the dignities had assembled to see the thing
come off. Sir William Codrington and staff, and
generals innumerable, were down at the place, at 2
1):111., the time appointed for the explosion. For
two hours did they wait in vain for the completion
'°f the arrangements. At last, at 4, pm , it was
`said all was ready; there was a great pause—
%generals looked nervous, a staff officer turned pale,
atdead silence, and then another horrible pause;
last an engineer officer stepped forward ; every-
body heard him as he, in a firm voice, cried
"twice;'
and drew his breath a little shorter ;
``thrice,"
made the heart go a deal quicker ;
thrice,"
the ut every nerve in the body was strained to
most, waiting for the terrific roar that was to
ollow. Slowly, it seemed hours in being pro-
/a°:rteed, there came forth the dreaded signal
tt
ia.";7114-1' You could almost hear the long breath
L- WitS
drawn as that little word went forth, and
uotuing more
was heard. It was a failure, and the
colour returned into many a cheek. Another
attempt Was to be made, but the majority left im-
mediately, as a veteran general observed, " I am
laid for being shot at, and don't mind going under
° on duty, but hang me if I can stand being put
44nk like this for nothing." The explosion, how-
"er, went off successfully about six o'clock, and
tWorld, he docks of Sebastopol, the finest, perhaps,
are no more. The army still continues
remarkably healthy, and if we take the field in the
2tillg, will be the best England ever could boast.
'fere it not for the state of the roads, which retain
their essential characteristics of Crimean slush,
en° /night fancy oneself any where but in a foreign
fted hostile land. Everything, from a toothbrush
111, to a hut, may be bought at Kadikoi or
miesch
of ; we have railways, and the heights
Balaklava resound for the first time to
'the shrill whistle of an English locomotive. How
e Greeks or Genoese, that once sojourned there,
WO id wonder were they to open their eyes on
scene that now stretches itself over their
former habitations. It is amusing to watch an old
'Turk, as the Alliance or the Victory (for such are
the games of the two transported engines)
heby, a smile of bewilderment spreads
over his broad face, and you may hear 'him
mutter, " Miashallah ! it is very wonderful."
an omnibus, a real 'bus, the Talezfrede, also runs
n.ow regularly between Balaklava and Karniesch, so
eirvilized and unromantic are we become. The
hard frost broke up last Monday, and we have had
o. southerly wind, with very mild weather, ever
otnce. Yesterday the thermometer was at sixty
five degrees, rather a sudden change from last
Sunday, when it stood all day at fifteen. The
conseqnence of the thaw has been that the roads
have resumed the appearance of a sea of dirty
Paste; but considering the traffic, it is surprising
they are as good as they are—the road to Balaklava
18 in first-rate order.

The last

FRANCE.

-~--t---

'as utterly

FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
(
PARIS, FRIDAY EVENING.
t corniti,:l:e has been
.a
tgood deal of excitement on
the
s excellent barometer of d
. t', to-day—t in_
It was reported
I poufical situation of France.
ti -ille,,t,he greatest confidence that the news
heacd'ance of the Austrian propositions by.
-- ea d
USe a sanguinary riot at Russiaoof
ti
l e
rhae persons even went so far as
S tto.
ay Petersburgth at tii
e;
But the
v'lnPe'rer Alexander had been strangled.
~Iverniuent made the commissary
agens .
"7" th 5 Bourse notify to the
c4(4496 that it had received no information
Of an,
Were "dilnich event. Nevertheless, the Pour.siers
th
I, aposed to take a gloomier view of things
vi,Waiatlii at 7,47
illllitlmyoessttearldlasy and so business left off
yesterday,
; that of the rents
of suiln the threes, 75c for cash, and 85c for the end
ende le-math—four and a half, 750 cash, and 40
of the month.
In' have read to-da a letter from a Russian noble-
thetah at St. Petersburg, to a friend in this cite-
,. says, that the news of the Russian acceptance o
the Austrian propositions—which,
was not communicated by the government
by the way,
i,
hadad!, but was transmitted from Vienna—
been received without satisfaction by the
p ce party, an
the war party. d with consternation and rage by
the other—the peace .
Each party vehemently accused
gentry contending that the
'war faction, by ' their violence, had driven the
country into a,disastrous war, from which it could
llot escape with honour ; the war party loudly
Itc. ea sing the other of havinv consented to the
disgrace and dishonour of The
Masses of the population not
Hol Russia.
Holy
owing exactly
what all the fuss was about, were of opinion, as
they almost always are, that what the Czar had
done was right, and they even said, " that he had
fag the cowardly enemies kiss his sublime seep.
fne ' but it was feared that when these brutal and
„`tistical !masses should become aware of the real
truth there would be terrible commotion. On the
thole, the writer of the letter was of opinion thatNill
Conferences which are about to take place
.v
lead ohing, inamuelf as, the peace party, being
Ina •
Minority at St. Petersburg, the Czar would be
under the necessity of endeavouring to gain more
ia,vaurable conditions than those to which he has
Riven if
Allies
Is assent—a thing to which the
casino consent
a vi° of our • vs apers have letters from St.
Petershc ra, butn newspapers
only contain two facts word).
Inentioning. The first is, that the Czar took his
l'esolution to accept the Austrian propositions,
Without, consulting his terrible brother Constan-
time, and ,
that that he was afterwards so afraid of his
'announce to
'vrath he sent his brother Nicholas to
meat which is him what he had done—an announce-
said
between th to have led to a furious scene
en two brothers. The interview of the
Emperor a Constantine Was expected to be
terrible. The second
have already learned fact is (but you will, perhaps,
it by the Berlin telegraph),
that General Mouravieff has added Kars and its
Pachalick to the Russian Empire, and the Czar
not only accepted the addition, but sent a tele•
graphic despatch to the general with the words,
' Approved—thanks.'
The Patrie of this evening (it is a semi-official
authority), confirms
what I have twice told you,
namely, that Paris is to be the seat of the approaching
hegociations—Russia herself having indicated this
,City. According to the same journal, the Allies
have not made it a condition sine qua non that
Prussia shall not be admitted to
Unless she engages, in the event of e Conferences
tth heir failure, to
take part in the war against Russia.
Such a failure,
however, the Patrie says, is " contrary to all proba-
bility."
in this City
The semi-official journals
.Continue
to manifest the greatest confidence in Peace.
Scarcely any one, however, of the people I
rofernsseieotn
though they are of all classes and of all
professions
entertains the same opinion. The Legitimistand Orleanist papers continue to speak
of England
with insult.
though
, I am assured, on fair authority, that
to
-v,hgland (as I have already told you) consents
to
an armistice, she will positively not consent
suspend the blockade of the Russian ports,. and.
that she has made France approve of this detei-
mination.
The official Illoniteur gives to-day an account of
the investiture with the Order of the Bath of the
I'rench generals and officers, whose names I trans-
mitted to you yesterday. It says that at the

banquetwhich followed the ceremony, Lord Cowley,
the Ambassador, proposed theJ health of the Em-
peror, and that Prince Napoleon spoke as follows :
—" My Lord, and Gentlemen, I propose to you
the health of Her Majesty, the Queen of England.
In the name of my comrades of the Army of the
East, I thank her. Majesty for the high distinction
which she has been kind enough to confer on us.
If, in our devotedness to the most just of causes for
which we have fought and triumphed, we had need
of an encouragement and recompense, we should
have found it in the striking testimony of the
favour of our august Sovereign, and the gratitude
of a great people, our Ally. In the name of the
army, To the Queen of England?'

The Moniteur then says :-----" The Ambassador of
'and, terminating by a toast full of oppoftune
,s and importance in the present situation, pro-
,sed the early conclusion of peace, and the
egitimate hope which the new negociations gave
to the Allies, and in particular to the English peo-
ple to see an end put to the evils of war—evils, he
added, of which the illustrious soldiers then present
tould appreciate all the extent, because they had
been the spectators of them, and so many of their
glorious comrades had been their victims. " This
fete so complete," adds the Moniteur, " is an addi-
tional tie between the two armies, and the two
It is calculated, by the souvenirs it will
leave in the minds of the eminent men who have

BEng

nations

received the striking marks of the kindness-Of
Queen Victoria, to cement the alliance of the two
Western Powers, on which reposes the future of
the civilised world."

Mete remarks have excited a good deal of
ion, and have been diversely interpreted ;
people think that they are a sure indication

of peace, and others that, from what they say of
close alliance of the Western Powers, they menace
war.

The Bank of France has not carried into effect
the resolution it was said to contemplate, of again
' ' bills at three months' date.