The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-09 00:00:00

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AAIERICA.

ARRIVAL OF THE AFRICA.

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LIVERPOOL, SUNDAY.

"-e By the arrival last night of the Cunard ROyal
Mail steamer Africa, Captain W. Harrison, we have
advices from New York to the 27th; Boston, 28th ;
- and Halifax, 29th ult.
She brings 158 passengers, and $678,715 070.
and 12,0121. in specie.
• She reports the arrival at New York, on the 27th,
of the Atlantic ; and at Halifax, on the 29th, of the
Asia—both from this port.
The George Law (steam-ship) arrived at New
' York on the 24th ult., with the Californian mails
of the 4th of March, and $317,800 in gold dust.
The New York .Herald of the 27th makes refer-
ence to proceedings taken in New York for or by
the British Government for the procuring of re-
, eruits for the British army. A Mr. Angus
M'Donald advertises that he is prepared to forward
men willing to serve to Nova Scotia :
" It is to be presumed (says the Herald) that Mr. A.
I M'Donald and the parties who are connected with the
Chatham-street recruiting depot act in ignorance of
the law, which renders any such proceedings as theirs
' a misdemeanour at law, and punishable under the United
States statute. Neither the British Government nor
any one on its behalf has a right to recruit soldiers within
the United States ; and any and all proceedings taken
with that aim fall clearly within the provision of the
statute, and call for the interference of the district attor-
ney. It behoves Mr. IVPICeon to see that residents of
New York are not entrapped or seduced to serve in
foreign armies."
The advices from California are to the Ist ult.
The papers are occupied with further particulars
of the great financial crash, of which the announce-
ment was made by the steamer of last week. The
house of Wells, Fargo, and Co., after a full meeting
of their creditors, who agreed to wait upon them
for thirty or sixty days, had resumed business, and
is now in active operation. Adams and Co. had
applied for the benefit of the Insolvent Act, and
it was thought would be able to pay but a small
percentage on their liabilities. It was supposed
that Page, Bacon, and Co. were still solvent, but
not having control of their resources would defer
the resumption of payments until a future time.
The appearance of the long-wished-for rains at the
mines had brightened the prospects in that quarter,
and it was anticipated that a greater amount of
gold would be realised during the month of March
than had been taken for the same space of time
since the discovery of the mines. The election of
a United States senator bad not again been formally
called up in the Legislature, but a democratic
caucus was to be held at Sac'ramento, to establish
a compromise in favour of G win.

IPRICE SD.

THE LATE SORTIE BEFORE SEBASTOPOL

The following is an extract from a letter written
by an officer in the Royal Artillery '
" Camp before Sebastopol,. March 23.
" The action of last night-1 might almost dignify
it by the name of battle'—has been a glorious and
decisive victory.
" It was Inkerman on a small scale—an attack
in very great force, and on all points ; and every
where- they were beaten back with
,vigour and
heavy loss. I 'saw, at least 300 Russian bodies
lying on the field. We calculated that their loss
must have exceeded 1,200 men.
" The French lost 500, and the English four
officers and about 50 men. Captain Vicars, of the
97th, was in the advanced parallel of our right
attack,. with a picket ,of his regiment. The enemy
attacked the French lines close alongside where lie
lay ; a ravine only separated them. They at first
drove back the French, and part of them then
turned to their right, crossed the ravine, And took
our trench in flank. We were unpref)ared, and at
first thought the advancing body was one of the
French. But Vicars found out they were the Rus-
sians, and ordered his men to lie down, and wait
till they came within 20 paces ; and they did so.
When the enemy was close enough, Vicars shouted,
Now, 97th, on your pins, and charge They
poured in a volley, charged, and drove the Rus-
sians quite out of the trench. Vicars himself
struck down two Russians, and was in the act of
cutting down a third with his sword, when another
man, who was quite close (for Vie coat was singed),
fired, and the ball entered his uplifted right arm
close to where it.joins the shoulder, and he fell.
The arteries were divided, and. he must have bled
to death in a few minutes.

"Thus his end was as peaceful and painless as a
soldier's death could be, and. nothing -copld have
been more noble;-devoled, and gloriouS . than his
conduct in this, his first and last engagement.
"He was universally beloved, and none can
doubt who knew him that he is now iu the presence
of that, great and holy God whom on earth he
deeply loved, and earnestly and successfully-sought
to serve.
"Poor fellow ! he chose the Psalms and lessons
for the prec9ding day (the Day of Humiliation),
and read the service, when several of us met to-
gether to worship God ; all present must have
noticed the fervour of his manner ; little did we
think he was so soon to be numbered with the
dead."

A letter dated from off Schaqopol, March 24,
says :

On the 22d the Russians made a heavy sortie

in the night on both ours and the French trenches;
they were repulsed with great loss, but we also
suffered—nine officers and 100 men killed and
missing, among whom is the Colonel of the 29th,
whether killed or missing is uncertain. On the
same evening the town was set fire to by some of
our mortars, which are doing great execution, and
kept burning all night. The deserters still confirm
the report of Menschikoff's death, saying he died
five days after receiving the wound in his knee.
" Admiral Istomine was also killed by a shell in

the Malakhoff Battery—the sane pei son who was
well known to Sir E. Lyons, and who exchanged
presents—' a cheese for a deer'—some time back.
" Summer is fast making its appearance. Ther-
mometer often at 60 deg., and the weather exceed-
ingly mild.
The Russian Captain Kowseleff, who was on board

the Agamemnon some time, and was ultimately
exchanged for Lord Dunkellin, was shot 48 hours
after he had landed for having been captured
drunk."
A letter from the fleet at Balaklava, dated March
23, says :—" There are in harbour her Majesty's
ships Diamond, Leander, Wasp, Vesuvius, and
Caradoc. The Medina arrived here a few days ago
with warrant officers' stores, and sailed yesterday
for the fleet. Lieutenant Cambier, of the Diamond,
has been invalided. Huts are in course of construe-

tion for the reception of the sick belonging to the
Marine Brigade. When they are completed the
sick will be removed from the transport Pride of
the Ocean to them. Huts are also in course of
erection for the stores for the Naval Brigade, when
they will be transferred from the transport Sir
Robert Sale. By these arrangements two large
vessels will be disposable. The Vesuvius sails to-
morrow for Constantinople and Malta. Lieutenant
Casey, R.M., is on board a transport under medi-
cal treatment. Admiral Boxer has shifted from

the Oscar steamer to the Columbia sailing trans-
port. The Danube, purchased steamer, arrived
hero yesterday from the fleet."

THE CONFERENCE AT VIENNA..

A letter from Vienna of the 3d, in the COnStittt-
tionnel, says : •
"The eighth sittiug of the Conference which tool:
place yesterday was closed by the verbal adoption on
the part of the plenipotentiaries of Russia of the inter-
pretation attached to the fourth point of guarantee by
the notes of the Bth Augast and amplified by the pro-
tocol of the 28th December. It is only the minutes of
the sittings hitherto held which have been signed by'
the representatives, and not the protocol, the signing of
which will decide peace. This protocol cannot be drawn
up until an understanding has been come •n the third

point, which, at the present, is being decided before
Sebastopol. The question as to whether that fortress
can be taken does not came within the competency
of diplomacy, and must be settled by the sword. It is
hoped that before the next sitting of the Conference
(on the 10th instant) something decisive may have
taken place on this point, for the report of General Can-
robert on the military operations of the Anglo-French
army in the Crimea, and announcing the general assault
is every day expected. According to the last accounts
received ria Odessa, it was not only in contemplation
to open the fire on Sebastopol, but more particularly to
attack the main body of the Muscovite army, and, if
possible, fight a decisive battle. In presence of there
facts it is easy to comprehend why the plenipotentiaries
of the allied Powers have preferred to let this discussion
on the third point remain open. If the result of the
operations of the allied array comes up to the expecta-
tion of General Canrobert, and to the desire of the allied
Powers, Russia will certainly accept the faits accomplis.
In the event of the result not being decisive, the
Conference will have to examine the question as to
whether the taking of Sebastopol, a place which the
Western Powers have never had any intention of
permanently occupying, so far interests their mili-
tary honour, that all other interests of Europe must
be made subordinate to that consideration. It is
only M. Drouyn do Lhuys and Lord J. Russell who
can, in the name of their respective Governments, reply
in a positive manner to such a question. I must not,
however, conceal from you that, according to accounts
worthy of credit, the Cabinet of Vienna is in possession
of sure information that a great part of the town of Se-
bastopol has been mined by the Russians, who intend to
blow it up rather than allow it to fall into the hands of
the allied army. (`This is most probably a threat held
out by the Russians, as the nature of the soil on
which Sebastopol is built would render such a work
nearly impossible.') I may add, that the Cabinet of
Vienna, from a motive, which . every one in France
will appreciate, has eagerly communicated to the French
Government everything which has come to its know-
ledge relative to the means of defence prepared by the
Russians in Sebastopol. Between this time and a
week we shall probably know something definitive,
since it appears certain that Lord John Russell has
fixed his departure from Vienna for the evening of the
10th, as he is compelled to be in London for the reopen.
ing of the English Parliament after the Easter holidays,
which takes place on the 16th. I cannot too strongly
call your attention to the fact that by the pure and sim-
ple adoption of the fourth guarantee such as it was in-
terpreted by the protocol of the 28th Dec., Russia has
made two very important concessions to the Western
Powers. By annulling all the treaties previously made
with the Porte, Russia abandons at a single blow the
results of a long series of wars, and of the efforts which
she has been carrying on for ages. This is a result of
which the allied Powers have a right to be proud. Per-
sons who reflect and measure causes and effects cannot
fail to admit that this concession in its legal and moral
consequences is much more valuable than the taking of
Sebastopol. The Russian Plenipotentiaries, moreover,
have been compelled to renounce all hope of re-
viving, in the practical interpretation of the fourth
guarantee any of the demands of the famous ultimatum
of Prince Menschikoff. This is another diplomatic
check to which Russia has been forced to consent, al-
though, in the despatch of the Baron de Budberg,. of the
6th Nov., 1854, the ambassador of the Czar at Berlin
had laid down the common guarantee by the five powers
of the religious and civil rights of the Christian popula-
tions of the Ottoman Empire as one of the sine titta non
conditions of the regulations of peace. In the interpre-
tation decided on in the sitting of the Conferences yes-
terday the fourth guarantee not only makes no mention
of the civil rights by the aid of which Russia could in-
cessantly interfere in the affairs of Turkey, but the con-
dition of the Christian subjects of the Porte is to bo re-
gulated without the religious protectorate of the Czar.
This is precisely tho contrary of what Prince Menschi-
koff demanded from the Sultan. Fur the exclusive pro-
tectorate which Russia wished to exercise over her core-
ligionists in Turkey, the Conference has substituted the
plenitude of the sovereign authority of the Sultan.

The St. Petersburg advices of the 30th of March quote
the rate of exchange 361 d. The next advices from
Vienna were looked for with great anxiety. The weather
had become fine, but was cold at night, although the
snow was fast disappearing.

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