The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDONL THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 4, 1865.

SIB DE L.,461Y _EVANS AND LORD RAGLAN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—ln your journal of yesterday's date you did
me the honour to copy from another paper a letter
of mine to Lord Raglan. Some one, with kind
and friendly intentions towards me, I have no
doubt, but without my previous knowledge, must
have sent this letter originally for publication. A
paragraph, or sentence, however, of my letter ap-
pears to have been omitted, from what cause I
know not. I rather think it may be a duty on my
part to correct this mistake. I take the liberty,
therefore, of enclosing herewith a copy of this
omitted paragraph for insertion, should you deem
it worthy of a place in your columns.
I have the honour to be faithfully yours,
DE LACY EVANS.

Folkestone, Jan. 2.
The omitted paragraph referred to followed the
words "30th of October," and was as follows :
" The post I was charged with during that long period
was, I believe, deemed of the utmost importance to the
safety of the French and English armies. Frequently
but few troops remained to me for its defence, against
sometimes tenfold our numbers of the enemy, within a
short distance from our front. I had the honour of fre-
quently submitting my opinion of the weakness and
precariousness of the position of the Second Division to
your Lordship, and, indeed, also to General Canrobert,
and of the small means at my disposal to place it in more
security. Its liability to be suddenly attacked at all
times it was also my duty to represent. But the various
exigencies to be provided for on other points at that
time scarcely left it possible, I believe, to afford us any
material reinforcement, or means for the cr,nstruction of
defences. I have ventured into these details to account
for the harassing nature of the duty alluded to, and of
the anxious and almost sleepless nights and days it occa-
sioned Inc."

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, JAN. 3.

The dinner party yesterday included her Royal High-
ness the Duchess of Kent, their Royal Highnesses the
Dlichess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary, Lady
Fanny Howard, Lady Suffield, Baroness de Speth,
Earl and Countess Granville, Viscount Hardinge, Lord
and Lady Cowley, the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert,
Lieutenant-General Sir G. Bowles, Major• General
Jones, -Major Purees, and Mr Gibbs.

The band of the Royal Bucks Militia played during
dinner, and her Majesty's private band afterwards.
Mr. PatriA Park has had the honour to submit to
her Majesty the Queen and bis Royal Highness the
Prince the bust of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor
of the French, which he has executed for his Grace the
Duke of Hamilton.

Tae Queen, accompanied by the Duchess and Princess
Mary of Cambridge, walked in the Home park this
morning. Afterwards their Royal Highnesses took leave
of her Majesty, and !eft the castle to pay a visit to the
Duchess of Kent at Frogmore house, and in the after-
noon took their departure from Windsor for Kew.
His Royal Highness the Pricce went out shooting,
accompanied by EArl Grativifle, Lord Cowley, the Riglit
Hon. Sidney Herbert, and Lieutenant-General Sir G.
Bowles.

His Royal Highness Prince Alfred rode on horseback.
Viscount Hardinge, Lord and Lady Cowley, and the
Right lion. Sidney Herbert left the Castle to-day.
Major-General :Tones arrived last evening, and left
by an early train this morning.

The Elrl of Aberdeen left town yesterday afternoon
for Windsor Castle, on a visit to her Mkjesty.
Viscount Palmerston returned to his seat, Broadlands,
Hants, after the Cabinet Council, on Tuesday after.
noon.

[IMPORTANT CHANGES AT ST.

PETERSBURG.

A letter from Paris this morning contains the follow-
ing :—"A private letter from St. Petersburg, dated the
26th, mentions that some important changes have taken
place, and more were expected, among the higher offi-
cers of the army. The one looked upon as the most seri-
ous is the nomination of General de Berg, who distin-
guished himself at Revel by the measures he adopted for
the defence of the place against the Allied fleets. He
has been appointed Cominsmdant-in-Chief of Finland,
in the place of General Rokossowsld, who commanded
there when Bomarsund was attacked by the Allies.
This nomination is considered all the more significant
that Finland is fully expected to become the theatre,
or rather one of the theatres, of war next spring.
Po't i-Jal persons at St. Petersburg fully believe that the
King of Sweden is determined to abandon ail idea of
neutrality, and whenever hostilities recommence in the
north to take an active part with the Allies. A similar
resolve is expected from the King of Denmark, particu-
larlysince the fall of the Oerstedt Cabinet, which was
favourable to the Russians. The -Commandant of the
coils of Grenadiers had left for Warsaw. Two divisions
of the corps now occupy the banks of the Bug. The
letter adds that the Grand Dukes who had left Sebasto-
pol on the 15th, arrived at Gatschina on the 23,1. Ac-
counts received from Sebastopol at St. Petersburg men-
tions that 7,000 of the inhabitants of the former place
had quitted it in order to take refuge at Simpheropol,
and that it resembled some vast barracks in ruin rather
than a city."

THE CONFERENCE AT VIENNA.

The following article from the Patrie, of yesterday,
gives an aceount of what took place at the conference of
the 28th ult. :

"A private telegraphic despatch relative to the con-
ference that took place at Vienna, on the 28th Decem-
ber, between MI de Buol, the Austrian Minister for
Foreign Affairs, and M. de Bourqueney, and Lord
Westmoreland, the French and English Ambassadors,
and at which Prince Gortschakoff, the Russian Ambas-
sador, was also present, has been understood, from the
first, as opening a new chance, however small, for the
renewal of negotiations for peace.
" The present state of matters is as follows :
" After the treaty of the 2d of December bad been
signed, the representatives of Austria, France, and Eng-
land exchanged communications on the subject of the
precise interpretation that was to be given to the four
points of guarantee indicated in the note of the Bth of
August. These communications havinc, brought about
a perfect agreement on every point that remained ob-
scure and undecided, the Austrian Government, through
M. de Buol, proposed that the result of these communi-
cations should be drawn up in a protocol, and signed by
the representatives of the three Courts, so as to invest
their unanimity with a more formal character than could
be attained by a mere interchange of diplomatic notes.
"It will be at once seen that the representatives of
France and England could not but give their esient to a
proposition of this kind, emanating from the Austrian
Government, intended to have for its result the addi-
tion of an important corollary to the treaty of the 2d of
December, and at the same time doing away with the
danger foreseen by Lord John Res el', and mentioned
by him in the House of Commons on the 12th of De-
cember, that at the last moment, without failing in her
engagements, Austria would have a right to say to the
Western Powers that she could not agree to their inter-
pretation of the four guarantees.
" This protocol, then, has been signed at Vienna
by the representatives of Austria, France, and Eng-
land ; and it was to hear with his own ears, and in the
presence of them all, the contents of this protocol, that
Prince Gortachakoff was invited to be present at the
hotel of the British embassy, on the 28:h ult. The
meeting that took place there was not, to speak pro-
perly, a diplomatic conference; there was no conference,
but a notification of the result of former conferences.

"That Prince Gortschakoff was in►ited to give a
verbal answer, Yes or No, as to the acceptance by the
Emperor his master of the four points of guarantee as
then interpreted, appears to us to be very probable.
And it is not less probable that the Prince should have
declared himself to be without exact instructions on the
matter, and have demanded time to make a reference to
his Cctfrt.

"Here our information ceases. We know not if the
conference at Vienna has accorded the fortnight's delay
asked for, as necessary for the receipt of a reply from
St. Petersburg. But what we do know is, that though
this delay may have been accorded, it will not put off
for a minute the serious preparations of Austria for
taking the field as promptly as possible, nor the most ac-
five measures engaged in by the two Western Powers
for bringing to a happy and speedy conclusion the combat
now waging round the walls of Sebastopol."

The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, who are sur-
rounded by a family circle at Badminton Park, intend
to remain at that seat until the close of the month,
when they come to his Grace's new mansion in Grosve-
nor-square,

The Marquis and Marchioness of Westminster and
the Ladies Grosvenor have left Grosvenor House for
Mot sombe House, Dorset.
The Marquis of Clanricarde and Lord Dunkelin have
returned to Portumna. The Marquis is embodying the
Galway Militia at Loughren.
The Hon. Percy Smythe has arrived from the British
Embassy at Constantinople, at the residence of his
father, Viscount Strangford, in Harley-street.
The Duke of Wellington, Master of the Horse, who
with his accomplished Duchess, have been receiving a
few select friends and relations at the late Duke's
celebrated seat of Strathfieldsaye during the past
fortnight, are expected to return to Upper I3elgrave-
street at the close of the ensuing week, when it is
expected a privy Council will be held, at which the
noble and gallant Duke will attend in his official
capacity.
PRINCESS'S THEATnE.—The revival of Hamlet is
always regarded as an important event at this house.
When Mr. Charles Kean appeared before the London
public in the year 1337, Hamlet was the character
selected for the occasion, and with this part he has, as it
were, remained identified ever since. It is not played
very often at the Princess's, as it does not belong to
those peculiar Shaksperian revivals that are associated
with the present management,
but when it does come
out the admirers of Mr. Kean invariably muster in great
force. Last night //ii;,,/it Wa3 pla.:ied for th© first titne
this season, and the house was crammed to such a de-
gree that while it was January in the streets it was July
in the boxes.