The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-30 00:00:00

IRISH AND SCOTCH RANK RETURNS.

The returns of circulation of the Irish and Scotch
banks for the four weeks ending the 26th of November,
1853, when added together, give the following as the
average weekly circulation of these banks during the
past month, viz.:—

Average circulation of the Irish banks £6,379,220
Average circulation of the Scotch banks... 4,286,486

Average circulation during the past month £10,665,706
On comparing the above with the fixed issues of the
several banks, as given in the Banking Almanac, the
following appears to be the state of the circulation :
The Irish banks are above their fixed issue... £24,726
The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue 1,199,277

Total above fixed issue 21,224,003
The amount of gold and silver held at the head offices
of the several banks during the past month have been
as follows :

Gold and silver held by the Irish banks £1,961,223
Gold and silver held by the Scotch banks— 1,493,784

Total of gold and silver held £3,455,007
These returns, combined with the average circulation
of the Bank of England for the same period, show a
decrease of 1,366,5171. in the circulation of notes in Eng-
land, and a decrease of 955,5521. in the circulation of
the United Kingdom, when compared with the month
ending the 29th of October ; and, as compared with the
month ending the 27th of November, i 1852, the above
returns show a decrease of 716,175% in the circulation
of notes in England, and an increase of 422,5001. in the
circulation of the United Kingdom.
The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of
England in both departments during the month ending
the 26th of November was 15,611,2751., being an increase
of 298,4121. as compared with the previous month, and
a decrease of 5,688,438/. when compared with the same
period last year.

- The stock of specie held by the Scotch and Irish
banks during the month ending the 26th of November
was 3,455,0071., being an increase of 375,3731. as
compared with the previous return, and an increase of
939,8371. when compared with the corresponding period
of last year.

MONEY ORDER OFFICES.--A notice has been issued
from the General Post-office stating that on the Ist of
January next, the following minor money-order offices
will be raised to major money-order offices :—Abergele,
Denbighshire ; Bingley, Yorkshire ; Crook, Durham ;
Hawkhurst, Kent ; Heywood, Lancashire ; Newcastle-
Emlyn, Carmarthenshire ; Northfleet, Kent; Patrington,
Yorkshire ; Ramsey, Isle of Man ; Rawtenstall, Lan-
cashire ; Sandgate, Kent ; Southend, Essex ; Sowerby-
bridge' Yorkshire ; Walton-on-Thames, Surrey ; and
York Town, Surrey. Minor money-order offices will
also be opened at the following places on the respective
dates named—Buckden, Huntingdonshire, on the 3d
January ; Holme-upon-Spalding-Moor, Yorkshire, on
the 10th January ;' Newrnills, Derbyshire, on the 13th
January ; and Schull, County Cork, on the Ist January.
ACCIDENT TO AN AUSTRALIAN MAIL VESSEL.—The
clipper ship Matilda Wattenbach, Captain Clare, which
sailed from the Mersey on the 4th instant, with tbemails
for the various Australian ports, was seen off Lisbon
on the Bth inst., in a crippled condition, having lost
her topmasts. This unfortunate accident will probably
necessitate her putting into that port to refit, and the
detention thus caused will throw her out of all chance
in the race with her steaming competitor, the Golden
Age, which sailed the day after her.—Liver pnol Times.
HOUSE OF LORDS.—We are requested to state that
tickets for viewing the House of Lords will be issued to
the public every Saturday, from the Lord Great Cham-
berlain's office.

THE GIRVAN MURDER.—The Ayr Observer furnishes
further particulars of this deliberate murder. On the
evening of Thursday last, Janet M'Culloch, or Cunning-
ham, wife of a man named Alexander Cunningham, a
labourer in Girvan, was sitting weaving in the house of
a man named Hamilton, in Piedmont-road of Girvan,
when, about seven o'clock, a rattling noise was heard,
as of gravel being thrown against the window near
where the woman was woi king,. She naturally turned
round to see what it was, when a gun was fired
through the window at her, and shot her right through
the heart. She uttered one cry, and fell dead on
the spot. Some men were weaving in the shop with her,
and they immediately gave the alarm ; but as the night
was pitch dark, and the shot came from the back of the
house, the murderer was not then seized. Suspicion at
once attached to the woman's husband, from whom she
was separated, who was on bad terms with her for some
time, and had been heard to threaten her shortly before,
unless she came back to live with him. Cunningham
himself came into the house where the body of his
wife was lying, about an hour after the murder, and
demanded to see her body. He was apprehended on
the spot, and on his house being searched a gun was
found in it which he had borrowed that morning to
shoot a hare, as he said. He was seen in the neigh-
bourhood of the house in the evening, and from a num-
ber of circumstances which have since come to light
the strongest suspicions attach to him. The deceased
was a quiet, well-behaved woman, and had to leave her
husband for continual bad usage, in consequence of
which he has been once or twice punished. It is thought
he was angry at her for not living with him and sup-
porting their children, and he is also said to have been
jealous of her. The sheriff and fiscal from Ayr were on
the spot next morning, and a searching investigation
was made into the affair, and Cunningham was trans-
mitted to Ayr gaol, where he now lies. The murderer
must have rested his gun on the ledge of the window and
taken a deadly ai,n, as the poor woman was not above
two yards from him when he spot her. Altogether, it is
one of the most cold-blooded murders that has disgraced
'our annals for many years.

LATEST FOREIGN NEWS

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
By telegraph we learn that the Moniteur, of this
morning, announces that, according to the latest
advices from Constantinople, the Divan was in per-
fect harmony with the representatives of France,
England, Austria, and Prussia, as to the conditions
on which the Porte could with honour concur in
the re-establishment of peace.
The intelligence of the acceptance by the Porte
of the Note of the Vienna Conference is con-
firmed by despatches received in Paris on Wed-
nesday at the Foreign-office. Turkey has ac-
cepted the propositions of the allies ; but of the
intentions of Russia nothing certain is known—
certainly not by the French Government. The
only Power that is believed to be deep in the con-
fidence of the Czar, and to be cognizant of the
manner in which he will receive these advances, is
Austria—and Austria is silent. The Austrian
Minister gives no indication, makes no sign, and
affects—for no one believes that it is anything but
affectation--to be ignorant of the designs of the
friend and protector of his Imperial master. This
sinister silence gives rise to misgivings that even
at this eleventh hour Austria is playing the game
she is so well accustomed to, and that her policy,
as of old, is one of duplicity. The conduct of the
Cabinet of Vienna is exciting much uneasiness.
It is said the Moniteur will on an early day con-
tain a communication explaining the present po-
sition of the Powers on the Eastern question, and
probably announce the acceptance by the Porte of
the Vienna propositions.
A private letter from St. Petersburg, of the 19th
inst., asserts positively that the exchange of rati-
fications of the treaty, offensive and defensive,
between the Shah of Persia and Russia has taken
place.

The following is from Constantinople, dated De-
cember 15 :—For the last two or three days the
representatives of the Four Powers have had fre-
quent conferoricesl, at several of which Reschid
Pacha was pr esent, for the purpose of elaborating
a new and last note which shall sufficiently safe-
guard the interests of Turkey, and at the same
time contain such concessions as should satisfy all
the reasonable. expectations of the Czar. Not that
much hope is entertained that at the eleventh
hour the Czar will show himself reasonable, but
the Ministers of the Sultan wish to be consistent
throughout the course of negotiations, and to ma-
nifest to the last moment that conciliatory and
moderate spirit which has characterised their en-
tire proceedinl n. Should this last effort fail, the
Porte will hav o demonstrated its pacific disposition,
and the Powei !s will be irrevocably engaged to lend
their energetic support to Turkey. They will have
the more reas on to do this, since the unfolding
of Russian d, :signs in Asia and the entrance of
Persia into till quarrel.
A Russian war schooner was, on the evening of
the 15th inst., driven by stress of weather to take
refuge in the Bosphorus. The captain took the
precaution to throw his guns overboard, thinking
to make the T arks believe that the schooner was a
trading vessel. i The Turks have taken provisional
possession of i, ca placing forty men on board.
A rumour ras in circulation at Constantinople
that a superior 'English officer was to arrive shortly,
for the purpose of studying the ground around
Adrianople, in
,order to decide on the best ground
for encamping : zan English-Franco expeditionary
corps, should it I; e necessary to send such a body
there.
On the 12th in st. Constantinople was perfectly
tranquil ; every l :hid of provision continued very
dear ; the price o' f bread had tripled. In the even-
ing of the day on' which the affair of Sinope became
known, a band of about 30 Greeks went through
the Frank quarto: r, crying, "Long live the Em-
peror Nicholas." The Turks, who reside there in
great numbers, lo oked with contempt on this kind
of provocation, a nd allowed these noisy agitators
to pass without of nice.
Though the in habitants of Constantinople are
much affected b; y the awful disaster at Sinope,
everything continues perfectly quiet. As the Sul-
tan was going ton nosque, some thousands of women,
the relatives of le unfortunate crews destroyed at
Sinope, presentee i themselves on his passage. These
poor people are deprived of all resources—hus-
bands, brothers, and fathers, their sole support,
having perished i n the late action. The Sultan has
given orders thal the salaries of the deceased be
continued to thei r families during lifetime.
The Porte has - contracted a loan of 30 millions of
piastres—about .260,0001.--with three important
banking-houses a t Constantinople. One of them is
the firm of Baits,: :i. It is thought that this money
has been raised fi r the purchase of ships.
The news from Asia mentions that the Russians
were driven back at Alexandropol. Selim Pacha
gained a brillian• t victory in the neighbourhood of
Laffah.
Letters from. Trebisonde announce that Daniel
Bey has also bee a victorious at Terek.
A letter from Aleppo, 19th ult., says :—" The
Arabs of the Do -sett have raised 5,000 men to take
part in the dele ace of the country. The inhabi-
tants of Aleppo have received an authorisation to
form a reoime, a t of volunteer cavalry, and in a
few days afte r 1,200 horsemen were completely
equipped. T hey have chosen as commandant the
Bimbaschi Ab met Effendi, an officer of great expe-
rience, who ha 43 already served against the Russians.
Soliman Pael'ia, invited the Consuls, Paellas, and
all the inhabit adits to be present at the departure of
the troops, ar id in order to give more eclat to the
affair Azini Pa cha appeared with an escort on horse-
back and preceded by a band of music. Soliman
Pacha deliver .ed a very expressive address to the
troops."
The -bourn, sl de- Constantinople expresses itself
as follows relative to the interruption of diplomatic
relations between England and Persia :--
"In consequence of a serious difference, the represen-
tative of Great Britain in Persia demanded in an ener-
getic note prompt satisfaction from the Persian Govern-
ment. The Slnah seemed inclined to grant it, but the
Russian Embas sir, by its intrigues, succeeded in turning
him away from that course. In consequence, the repre-
sentative of her ilritannic Majesty at Teheran considered
it his duty to interrupt all diplomatic relations with
Persia. The ext;mme agitation which now exists amongst
the Affgha*s di. sq uiets not only Persia, but even Russia.
Something was said some time back of an Affghan Em-
bassy from Do sit Mohammed Khan to Persia ; that
Embassy has ar exed at Teheran. Dost Mohammed is
an implacable en emy of Russia, and opposes with the
greatest resoluti:o.n the policy of the Czar in Persia, and
in the rest of Asia. His Ambassador is charged with a
mission of the greatest importance, and the Prince of
Affghan desires ardently to have this mission crowned
with success."

A private letter from Brailow announces that
a brigade of the 7th Russian division, commanded
by General Selvane, having quitted Nizir Kenni,
to attack Amouchda, an island in the Danube, had
got engaged in the marshes, from which it could
not extricate itself without severe loss.
A letter from Erzeroum of the 4th inst. an-
nounces that the Shah of Persia had dismissed all
the English, French, German, and Italian officers
serving in his army. The Russian army in the Cau-
casus had been reinforced by 15 regiments of Don
Cossacks, under the command of General Kre-
chatiky.

The Ottoman Government has published its
account of the disaster of Sinope, which does not
flinch differ from details already given. The Moga-
dor and Retribution had brought to Constantinople
110 wounded Turkish seamen and soldiers, the
survivors of the massacre. 1,000 men had been
found on land at Sinope, 120 were made prisoners
by the Russians, and about 3,000 men were slaugh-
tered. Of the Turkish squadron, seven went to the
bottom under the Russian fire, with the dead and
wounded on board; two ships blew up, and one
was saved. Of their commanders, four survived,
four died on the decks of their respective ships, or
went living to the bottom with them, and two were
taken alive. An English merchant vessel which
happened to be at Sinope was fired into and sunk
by the Russians, though she had hoisted the flag
of her nation, and one of her crew was killed. The
others, with the captain, were saved and taken on
board the Retribution—an ominous name, it may
be, for Russia. Among the commanders killed
was Ali Bey, of the Navik frigate, who, having seen
the impossibility of resisting the Russians,: em-
barked the few survivors of his ship's crew on board
the pinnace. They were fired into by the Russians,
and the boat blew up side by side with the frigate
to which she belonged. It was the same Ali Bey
who formerly commanded the Fagli-Illah when she
conveyed to Sardinia the Italian Legion of Hun-
gary. The Divan has ordered sixteen points of the
coast of Anatolia, in the Black Sea, to be I
fortified.

The Paris correspondent of the Times thus com-
ments upon this brutal affair :—" The private
letters from Constantinople confirm the details
given in my letter of Sunday week last of the affair
of Sinope. The scene of war and desolation that
presented itself on the arrival of the steamers from
Constantinople was
most
indeed. Nothing in
the warfare of the barbarous period, and on

a si-nilar 7?1.e, :17.r.p-.7;s
what has taken place there. That monument of
cold-blooded and wanton vengeance will never, I
hope, be effaced from the memory of Europe. The
massacre continued even after all resistance
had long ceased, shows a savageness of nature
which feels no generosity for the conqudred
brave nor pity for the helpless and aau.i;!ii.Lig•
When the Retribution and Mogador arrived on
the spot, they found every house destroyed, or
still in flames, and the town almost utterly
annihilated, mangled bodies and limbs floating
about or rotting upon the beach, • and the
dead and dying scattered among the still burning
fragments that strewed sea and shore. It is
stated that, even after the docks and ships were
destroyed, the Russians poured an incessant shower.
of grape and canister on the poor wounded wretches
who were struggling amid the waves and ~,triving
to reach the shore, as if the thirst for massacre
could not be stayed while one human being sur-
vived. There is scarcely a letter of the many that
have been received from Constantinople that
does not speak of this massacre and confla-
gration, of the treacherous ferocity of tae as-•
sailants, and the desperate heroism of the vic-
tims—' heroism,' one letter says, that recalls the
most devoted courage 'of ancient times. Of the
effect produced ac Constantinople by the sad tidings
it is superfluous to speak. Crowds of people col-
lected in the streets and accompanied the families
of the victims of Sinope to the residence of the
Capudan Pasha, on whom the fault is laid of having
sent to the Black Sea a squadron so weak and so
unprotected when it was known that the Russians
were prowling along the coast of Asia Minor. Their
clamours reached the ear of the Pasha, and one
account says that he considered it prudent to con-
ceal himself, lest he should fall a victim to popular
vengeance."

A letter dated Constantinople, the 15th of De.
cember, says :

"The expedition of General Prim is for the present
terminated, and the General himself embarks for France
on the 25th, but with the intention of returning
here in the spring to witness the important events which
will undoubtedly take place. The flames of war are
such as can only be extinguished with powder. The
disaster of Sinope has somewhat disconcerted these
valiant Mussulmans, but it has added to their courage
and their desire for vengeance. I have noticed the gross
inaccuracies in most of the foreign journals respecting
General Prim, and I only hope that sensible people wiil
not give credit to such absurdities. General Prim
remained with the Turkish army only a simple
spectator, though in his character as a soldier he
has faithfully and zealously executed the mission in-
trusted to him by his Government. If he has left a good
name behind him, he is indebted for it to his own pru-
dence, and to the gallantry of the brave Omer Pacha
and his Generals. The snow and frost have suspended
all operations on the Danube, and all we can now do is
to wait for the favourable season."

It appears that the General has dealt very
sharply with the famous Gortschakoff bulletin of
the battle of Oltenitza, which he says will be
laughed at by every corporal who may read. He
says :

" I have just come from the head-quarters of Omer
Pacha, where I have passed four months. lam a mere
soldier, and I went to Schumla simply in the character
of an amateur. I consider, therefore, that I am an
impartial observer of what goes on under my eyes. The
question of orthodoxy and Holy Places does not inte-
rest me the least in the world, but I do feel desirous
that my fellow-soldiers of all nations should know in
truth what is taking place on the Danube, and not be
misled by the reports of the Russian generals."
General Prim then takes up the assertions of
Prince Gortschakoff one by one, and refutes them.
He convicts General Dannenberg of great incapa-
city, and General Gortschakoff of boldly attempting
to foist on the world a story as absurd as it is un-
true. He says :—"At the moment when the
Russians commenced the attack (on the 4th Nov.),
the redoubt was open on both sides, for want of
time to complete the works, so that twenty men
might have entered on the left and fifty on the
right hand. Had the general commanding given
himself the trouble, as he ought to have done, to
make a reconnaissance, he would have discovered
the weak points of the Turkish position, and might
have attaCked with great chance of success, and
without losing so many brave soldiers as he did.
But General Dannenberg doubtless thought that
he had only to advance his infantry and artillery
to drive the Turks into the Danube."