The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-25 00:00:00

CUSTOMS' DUTIES.

The Board of Trade have just issued an account of the
Customs' duties received during the past year, as compared
with the two preceding years. The subjoined table show
the totals furnished by the 10 leading articles, and it will
be seen that the only items which fail to show a consider-
able increase over 1852 are tea, butter and cheese, and
fruits, the first having beon affected by the reduction of
duties, and the last by the diminished supply consequent
upon the currant blight :

I - -
GEOSS DUTY RECEIVED.
1851. 1852. 1853.
2 £ Z
Tea 5,902,433 ... 5,985,484 ... 5,685,194
Tobacco 4,485,747 ... 4,560,742 ... 4,751,780
Sugar 3,651,989 ... 3,639,953 ... 3,913,727
Spirits
Wine 1,856,331 ... 1,872,942 ... 2,036,083
Grain and Flour 508,485 ... 406,826 ... 532,692
Coffee 445,739 ... 438,076 ~. 463,665
Fruits
Silks 181,276 ... 191,233 ... 233,999
Butter and Cheese 251,290 ... 213,982 ... 191,443
Other articles 1,833,356 ... 1,731,855 ... 1,758,669 i

22,258,304 22,187,149 22,612,729

LOUTH ELECTION.—DUBLIN, FRIDAY.—The Louth
election has terminated in the return of Mr. Fortescue
by a gross majority of 151. All went off quietly.
LOCK PICKING.—Some surprise having been created
at the announcement that Hobbs' locks had been picked
by an artisan in the employ of Mr. Chubb, whose most
complicated locks, it will be recollected, Mr. Hobbs
picked with great ease, at the period of the Exhibition,
we are enabled to state that, at a meetinr, of the Insti-
tute of Civil Engineers, Mr. Hobbs himself pointed out
a defect which rendered a slight modification in arrange-
ment necessary for the perfect security of his ordinary
till locks. It was afterwards said that the workman al-
luded to had succeeded in picking these locks by the
exact way explained by Mr. Hobbs. If we recollect
right, Mr. Hobbs not only exhibited the mocha ope•
randi, but he furnished his auditors with the simple
means necessary to prevent it—this plain and consci-
eiatious course giving the greatest satisfaction to the
meeting, being in strict keeping with that spirit which
has marked the business emulation of this gentleman
since he has been in England,

LATE ST FOREIGIN- SEWS.

THE WAR IN THE EAST.
Advises • from Constantinople, of February 13,
state that the division of the fleet which had en-
tered th,e Euxine had returned to the Bosphorus.
The 2`'urkish convoy arrived at Varna on the
11th.
It was : reported that Reschid Paella would be
made Gr% i id Vizir.
The foil owing is from Constantinople, on the
9th inst.: • —On Tuesday, 7th inst., the Turkish re-
inforceme aits for the army of Asia left the Bos-
phorus fc r Trebizond, Batoum, &c., escorted by
five Dugli sh (under the command of Sir E. Lyons)
and three , French war steamers, viz. :—Agamem-
non, San si Highflyer, Terrible, Inflexible,
Charlematrz te, Mogadore, and Descartes. There
were eight Curkish steamers and a cloud of hired
sailing vesst tic, laden with stores, &c., which had
sailed on tt Le preceding day so as to gain a little
start. The, steamers may be expected back in
about eight or nine days. Two war steamers also
left for Varna—the Vesuvius and Magellan.
News arrived here yesterday of a recent attempt
to land at Tschernavoda on the part of the Russians,
but they were driven back with loss. The im-
portance of this position is very great, as it turns
Silistria from the east, while it commands the
Isthmus leading to the Dobrodjee. In 1829 the
Russians occupied the plain of Tschernavoda as
one of their principal military etapes.
The Russians have lately been employing the
needle rifle of Prussia with some effect across the
Danube, from the point of Slobodzi, opposite Rust-
chuk. We have already heard of 17 or 18 civilians
being killed there, the distance varying from 1,000
to 1,500 yards. It appears that the inhabitants of
Rustchuk usually assemble when their artillery
commences firing on any Russian military move-
ments observable in the town of Giurgevo, to watch
the effect of the balls. This desultory sharpshoot-
ing, when no military operations are being carried
on, is at the same time cruel and useless.
We daily, alinost hourly, have rumours of
another formidable affair at Kalafat, but owing to
our very imperfect communication with the posts
along the Danube, and to the inherent confusion
of the Turkish mind, coupled with a desire to con-
ceal reverses and magnify successes, we are always
behind hand and in the dark. hatever takes
place there is known in London long before we can
arrive at it here. But it seems almost certain that
fighting has commenced there in earnest.
Her Majesty's steamer Caradoc arrived here last
night, having left Marseilles on the 2d instant.
She has brought out Major-General Sir John Bur-
goyne, R.E., two Aides-de-camp, M. Ardent, Col.
du Genie, M. Magnan Commandant, an officer of
the Chasseurs de Vincennes, and the Polish
officer, Count Koscidski.
Letters from Posen of the 17th inst. state that
General Ungern Sternberg, Commander-in-Chief
of the troops in Poland, has received orders to keep
them ready to march at a moment's notice. The
General has in consequence taken steps to concen-
trate his troops.
Letters from Vienna of the 20th state that the
King of Naples has asked advice from the Em-
peror of Austria as to the attitude which he ought
to assume under existing circumstances.
M. Sicard writes from Syria, on the Bth, to the
Courier du Havre :—The Russian ambassador is
using every means to advance the cause of Russian
ascendancy. His agents, his spies, are everywhere,
and Russian gold is sown broadcast. The editor
of a journal widely circulated throughout the East
receives alone a gratuity of 12,000 f. per annum ;
and, consequently, since the affairs of the East have
attracted the attention of Europe the columns of
this journal teem with articles favourable to the
Russians, and always injurious, often insolent, to
the French and_Einglish. Three days ago a curious
piece was played on the stage at Athens. It was
the anniversary of King Otho's arrival in Greece.
The King was represented as making his triumphal
entrance as victor into Constantinople, and there
was a new Belisarius driving out the new bar-
barians from ancient Byzantium, and so forth.
The Greeks are indeed always the same ; Rissian
gold has a fatal power.
The Invalide Busse publishes the followingukase
of the Emperor of Russia :
" We Nicholas 1., Ice.,
" Our manifesto of the Ist of August last established
the order for the annual levy of troops in our empire.
" Considering that, in consequence of circumstances
of war, it is indispensable to maintain our army and our
fleet on a war footing, and to have reserves ready, with-
out being incessantly obliged to complete the active
parts of the army, we ordain :
" 1. A levy of nine men per thousand shall take
place in the western Governments of the empire, in
virtue of the ukase addressed to the directing Senate
under this day's date.
" 2. This levy shall commence on the Ist of March,
and terminate on the 15th of April, 1854.
"3. Whereas the citizens of the Governments of
Witebek, Mohilew, Kieft Povolia, Volhynia, Minsk,
Grodno, Vilna, and Kowno, have, as regards recruiting,
been assimilated to the other divisions, a levy of nine
mien per thousand shall also take place there.
" 4. The Jews subject to recruiting shall furnish ten
men per thousand.
" 5. The Governments of Cherson, of the Crimea, as
also of Bessarabia, which are in a state of war, are
exempt from recruiting.
" Given at St. Petersburg, Feb. 10, 1854.
(Signed) " NICHOLAS."
The St. Petersburg Gazette of the 16th February
announces, in the following terms, the rupture of
diplomatic relations between Russia and the two
great Western Powers :
" The public has been informed that the communica-
tion by which the ministers of England and of France
made known to the Imperial Cabinet the resolution
taken by their two courts to order the Anglo-French
naval forces into the Black Sea, was only a verbal
one. The Emperor, having judged that such a mode
of proceeding, not customary in so grave an occurrence,
might easily give rise to ambiguities, the representatives
of his Majesty at the Courts of Paris and London re-
ceived, as is known, orders to insist upon receiving
categorical explanations in writing on the extent and
bearing of that measure. The exchange of official notes
between our Ministers and the two allied Cabinets,
proved that the Governments of England and France
had not only pretended to protect the Turks against any
maritime attack by Russia, but also to assist them in
supplying their ports with pro Visions, at the same time
that they prevented Russia from providing her own ports
—in a word, to obstruct, if necessary by force, her free
navigation in the Black Sea.
"The attitude thus assumed by the two powers con-
stitutes, in the eyes of the Emperor, not only a grave
attack upon his rights as belligerent, but moreover an
effective co-operation in a war of which, until then, the
two powers had remained spectators. His Majesty has
thought fit from this day to protest solemnly against
this attack, reserving to himself to adopt such a line of
conduct as may suit him in future contingencies.
Meantime he has judged that provisionally the position
in which his representatives have been placed at Paris
and London, was no longer reconcileable with what was
due to himself, nor with relations, which, however de-
licate they had latterly become, had not yet entirely lost
the character of amity and mutual good will. In conse-
quence, Baron Brunow and-M. de Kisseleff, in virtue
of orders they had received for eventuality, demanded
their passports immediately after the reply that was made
to them, and they have just left England and France.
Diplomatic relations being thus suspended between Rus-
sia and the two Governments, Sir H. Seymour and the
Marquis de Castelbajac will also leave St. Petersburg,

FRANCE.
The Paris papers had not reached us when we
went to press.
By telegraph we learn that the Bourse was firm
yesterday, and the effect produced by the decree
in the Moniteur that morning calling out the dis-
posable conscripts of 1849 and 1850 was effaced by
the news from Vienna, announcing the complete
adhesion of the Austrian Government to the policy
of the Western Powers. The Three per Cents.
closed at 67f. for the end of the month. The Four-
and-a-Half per Cents, closed at 96f.
The manifestation of the working classes, an-
nounced to take place on the anniversary of the
revolution of the 24th of February, had not taken
place.

The artisans of Paris have remained quietly at
work, and Paris was perfectly tranquil.
The Sentinelle de la Marine of Toulon, of the
23d, announces that orders had arrived there for
the embarkation of the troops. All the measures
had been taken. Two regiments would leave for
Algiers. The 45th was to leave Marseilles. The
Asmodee left on the 23d for the Levant. The
Cafarelli and Rolland had arrived from Brest with
sailors. The Cameleon was expected.

SPAIN.
INSURRECTION AT SARRAGOSSA.

A telegraphic despatch from Bayonne announces
that a Pronunciamento has taken place at Sarra-
gossa, to the cry of " Vive Concha." A colonel
was shot. The insurgents were driven out of the
city, and retreated towards Huesca.