The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-05 00:00:00

THE PRUSSIAN DESPATCH.

The following is a translation of the text of the
Prussian despatch of the 19th December, addressed
to the Prussian Envoys at Paris and London,
of which a summary has already appeared in our
columns :

" BERLIN, DEC. 19, 1854.
"Monsieur le Comte, —As I have had the honour of
informing your Excellency by telegraph, it was on the
evening of the 16th inst., that the envoys of France,
England, and Austria came to communicate to me offi-
cially the treaty which their Governments signed on the
2d of Decmber at Vienna, and to express to me, con-
formably to Article VI., the desire of seeing Prussia
adhere to it. I lost no time in submitting that impor-
tant communication to the King, our august master.
His Majesty fully appreciates its great importance, and
in making it the subject of a conscientious examination
he has been guided by the sincere desire of associating
himself, as much as his convictions and the interests of
his country permit him, to the common work of the re-
establishment of general peace on just and durable
bases.

" It is with satisfaction that the King saw the proto-
cols of Vienna referred to. His Majesty continues to
regard them as the expression of the concert of the four
Pewers, and attaches a particular price to everything
which is of a nature to imitate (constater) the duration
of that accordance. It is true that Prussia did not par-
ticipate in the exchange of the notes of the Bth Au-
gust; the Government of the King did not think it ad-
visable in the then general situation of things to bind
himself in that respect by any engagement whatever ;
but the language which, at various times, he has held
at St. Petersburg, and which has not remained without
effect, proves that be endeavoured to assure a practical
value to the guarantees formulated at Vienna, by in-
ducing the Imperial Russian Cabinet to adopt them.
" While on the one hand the diplomatic concurrence
of Prussia is then already acquired to the efforts of the
other Powers to fix the bases of a general peace, her
transactions with Austria prove no less, on the other,
that the Cabinet of the King, penetrated with the grav-
ity of the interests compromised by a prolongation of
the menacing attitude of Russia, has, within the limit
of certain eventualities, engaged even its military co-
operation.

" Under all these respects the analogous attitude be-
tween Prussia and the Powers who signed ;the treaty
of the 2d of December already exists, and the King,
our august master, is too far from being under any
illusion on the incalculable dangers with which the
ulterior. unchaining of warlike passions would threaten
all Europe, not to be disposed to cement, in the inte-
rest of a prompt and equitable peace and the real
equilibrium it is destined to guarantee, by new
stipulations, an accordance the pacific weight of which
would be called upon to exercise a salutary and decisive
influence.

" Looking upon the treaty of the 2d of December in
this point of view, and recognising with satisfaction that
it contains the elements of the above indicated nature,
the King, our August Master, has, moreover, found in
most of its articles the impression, most natural it
is true, of its special destination, that is to say, of an
entente between the Western Powers and Austria. It
would follow—ani certainly the justness .of this observa•
tion will not, escape the just observation of the three
Courts who signed the Treaty—that Prussia, to adhere
eventually to the general tendency of that tansaction,
and to some of its particular stipulations, does not
find herself in a position (en mesure) to accede to a
treaty already concluded, but rather to conclude, if re-
quired (s'i/ y a lieu), an analogous arrangement on her
part.
" With this object, and to fix clearly his eventual de-
cisions, our august Master has thought fit again to put
the question to himself, what sort of interpretation
is to be given to the four points agreed upon in the
month of August as the base of the negotiation be-
tween the Cabinets of Paris, London, and Vienna,
mentioned by them in their Treaty, supported by
Prussia at St. Petersburg, and now adopted, with-
out reserve, and in primitive draft, by Russia. It is
evident that the interpretation is destined to form,
so to say, a centre round which all measures to arrive
at the re-establishment of general peace will turn, and
from which, whether diplomatic or military, they will
borrow their real character.
" Moreover, the King, our August Master, appreciates
the high importance of the step taken by the Cabinets
who signed the treaty of 2d December by inviting
Prussia to adhere thereto, and the more desirous his
Majesty is to respond to the sentiments which dictated
that measure, the more reason have we to hope that con-
fidential explanations of the interpretation of the four
guarantees will enable us to judge of the bearing of the
engagements we should have to contract.
" Consequently, the King charges you, Monsieur to
Comte, to speak in this sense to M. Drouyn de l'Huys
(Lord Clarendon), giving toyour language that character
of frankness and abandon which is the best proof of a
sincere wish of coming to an understanding.—l am, &c.
" DE MANTEUFFEL."

DEPARTURE OP THE COURT FOR OSBORNE.—IIer
Majesty the Queen and his Royal Highness Prince
Albert, accompanied by the Princess Royal and his
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, left Windsor Castle
visTitheed Duchess this morning, and proceeded by the Great- Western and
South-Western Railways to Osborne. The august party
was attended by a portion only of the rzyal household.
theu ° hes
Gallery of S
ofut ht
chrol a Br
It is understood her Majesty will return to Windsor
Castle on Monday next.
ndiatish Schoolind the Duchess
uchoef Art,
ssof Argyll
Pall Mall,
yesterday.
The Earl of Aberdeen arrived in town yesterday, from
a visit to the Qaeen at Windsor Castle.

LATEST NEWS.

THE CRIMEA.

The following telegraphic despatch has been

received from Vienna :

VIENNA, JAN. 4

Prince Gortschakoff has had an audience o

the Emperor, which lasted an hour and three.

quarters, but his Majesty is not likely to make

any concession to Russia.

General Osten-Sacken is to act against Eupa.

toria with 45,000 men and 80 guns.

According to telegraphic despatches from
French head-quarters both armies are preparing
to attack the southern part of Sebastopol.

ST. PETERSBURG, JAN. 2

A new financial measure is promulgated, raising

the import duty on tea brought from China over•
land 100 per cent., from Jan. 1, 1855.

The following telegraphic despatch was receivcd

in Paris last night :

TRIESTE, JAN. 3,

Accounts have been received from Constanti-.

nople to the 25th.
Chekib Effendi, Minister of Justice, died on

the 24th.

Admirals Dundas and Hamelin have returned.
The Allied armies, suffering from cold, have

no firewood.

The Allies have taken three Russian guns.

General Liprandi still occupies his position

neat Balaklava.

Accounts from Trebizond of the 19th state that

the Russians have raised the forts of Bayazid,
and are closely watching the frontier of Persia.

The heavy falls of snow which have taken place

near Kars render it very improbable that hostili-
ties can be resumed until the spring.
The Russian garrisons of Schamkoi and Anapa
will be, it is said, marched to the Crimea.

At Athens, on the 29th, rumours were again
current of the resignation of the Ministers of

Justice and Marine.

OFFICIAL DESPATCH FROM
THE ALLIED CAMP.
Marshal Vaillant, French Minister of War, has
received the following report, dated Dec. 22, 1854,
from General Canrobert :
" Monsieur le Marechal—The bad weather has
been prolonged until now, with rare and brief in-
tervals of improvement ; nevertheless we contimie
as much as possible the work of enclosing the ple4n
with our trenches, and although the rains make tlhe
movement of vehicles difficult, all the siege worl:s
are growing to completeness and consolidation.
" The two armies reciprocally assist each other.
To the English army I am indebted for the convey-
ance, by water, of nearly all the cavalry at my dis-
posal in the Crimea, and on my part I have plat ecl
at Lord Raglan's disposal sumpter horses for re-
moving his sick to Balaklava, and teams for Ca e
conveyance of his supplies. These exchanges coal-
tribute to keep up excellent relations and perfect
cordiality between the two armies.
" Hardly a night passes in which our advanced
works are not attacked in a sortie of the enemy.
.These attempts generally cost the assailants dear.
Yesterday, at 2 o'clock in the morning, the Russians,
after making a sortie against the third parallel rof
the English, who vigorously repulsed them, made
a similar demonstration against the centre and left
of our works. Received with a very lively and
well-directed fire, they retired before our soldiers,
who pursued them with the bayonet. The enein y
left a great number of dead upon the field.
"In order to render the protection of the
trenches more efficient, I have organised a corps. of
volunteers whose peculiar duty it is to reconnoi ti
the approaches to our works during the night.
This institution completes that of the sharpshooters
(francs-tireurs) organised at the commencement of
the siege, and who do duty by day in our trenclie
themseli'es. They have already done a great det )1
of harm to the enemy.
" As I have already announced to you, tear
works now extend to the bottom of the Quaranti; ie
bay. The enemy shows that he is not inattentive
to our progress on that side, and his guns hot ly
dispute the ground with us, where we are oblige~ 1,
as we are nearly everywhere, to dig into the soli ;d
rock. But our progress is not the less real, and
remain in possession.
"I have already informed you that the enemy la; is
withdrawn his left, and evacuated those points in tl he
valley of Balaklava, where we had previously ses m
him in large masses. The day before yesterd:a y,
wishing to ascertain the situation he had taken -up
in that direction, I sent out a force consisting cif. a
cavalry brigade, under the command of Genen al
d'Allonville, to reconnoitre as far as the village of
Tchourgouna. Behind the village of Kamara th. ey
fell in with a few hundred sharpshooters, who re
they drove back into the ravines. Some groups:. of
cavalry, accompanied by their artillery, and a fR w
battalions of infantry appeared on the flanks of tl ie
party making the reconnaissance, but they did n of
attempt to offer any opposition to the operation of
the latter, which was most successfully executed.
"At the same time, 1,000 foot soldiers, Higl s-
landers and Zouaves, left Balaklava to the riot it
of our positions, and explored the heights that e x-
tend towards the valley of Baidari. They only met
a post of Cossacks.
"In fine, I think that on the left bank of Vie
Tohernaya the enemy has only a few soldiers pos ti id
to observe ourpositions at a distance. A moven' e:nt
has evidently been produced in the Russian am ay,
the probable cause of which is the debarkation of t he
Turkish troops still going on at Eupatoria. Isl it)11
soon receive positive information on this head.
" Although the number of the sick has sligh.ftly
increased, in consequence of the constant danapn.tiss
in which we live, the sanitary state of the army is
satisfactory, and the moral spirit of the troops. is
perfect.
" Although the soldiers have been heavily in-
convenienced by the rains, there has yet been ;no
cold weather ; the snow, which for a long time p ast
has covered the tops of the mountains in the in-
terier, has not appeared on the hill-plain we occupy,
and the thermometer has not once fallen below ze
These general conditions are improved by the c;ai e
we take of our soldiers ; anal, thanks to the pru-
dent foresight of the Emperor and his Government:,
the army enjoys a relative degree of comfort the .t
makes it gaily support with a light heart its fatigues.
" The number of the sick in our military hospit a le
at Constantinople amounts to 3,794, of whom 1,'i.*37
are wounded. Out of this total, 266 are Russians.
I have established a convalescent depot in tb e
Crimea, near the Bay of Karatch. Here the men
who leave the army ambulances, and who only re--
quire a little repose before they return to their
duty, will have their recovery promoted. This
measure will diminish our draughts to Constarh-
tinople.
"H. I. H. Prince Napoleon, still detained :IA
Constantinople by the illness that compelled hag
to leave the Crimea, wished to come and rejoin us..
I was bound to oppose this return, which comprc-
inised the health of the Prince.
"Accept, &c., The General-in-Chief,
(Signed) " CANROBERT."