The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-28 00:00:00

LATEST FOREIGN NEWS

THE WAR IN THE EAST.
PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE BY 30,000

RUSSIANS.

A telegraphic despatch, dated Ibrail, March 23d,
at noon, received via Vienna, says :
"Eighteen thousand Russians have crossed the
Danube near Gedshid. The Turks retreated before
them. 30,000 will have crossed by nightfall. Ge-
neral Luders supports these movements from
Galatz."

This is said to be authentic. It is partly con-
firmed by an announcement made by the Frem-
denblalt, which we inserted in this journal yester-
day, to the effect that at Bucharest on the 21st,
Russian officers stated that on the 18th General
Luders crossed the Danube near Isatchka, and
stood with 45,000 men in Bulgaria.
The circumstance of the two accounts not agreeing
tends rather to confirm their general accuracy than
to throw any doubt upon it. As they come from dif-
ferent quarters, and therefore from different sources,
it is not to be wondered at that they should vary
in their statements respecting such an occurrence ;
while, if they are fictitious and have been circulated
by Russian authorities to alarm the enemies of
Russia, it is singular there should not be greater
agreement between them.

MORE FIGHTING, AND TWO THOUSAND
RUSSIANS KILLED.
Since writing the above, we have received a
telegraphic despatch from Vienna, under date of
this morning, which says :—" It is positive that
35,000 Russians crossed the Danube, near Mat-
shin, on the 23d, without meeting with any
resistance."
The Morning Post, in a second edition to-day,
publishes the following telegraphic despatch, dated
Bucharest, March 27 :
" Prince Gortschakoff has attempted to occupy
the island in face of Turtukai (Mokanon), but the
bridge which he threw across the Danube has been
destroyed by the Turks, and 2,000 Russians slain."
The Morning Chronicle, in a third edition, gives
advices from Belgrade of the 27th, which are to
the same effect. They state that on the 15th Prince
Gortschakoff attempted to take the island opposite
Turtukai. His troops already covered the bridge
which they had established, when the fire of the
Turks brought it down, and it was carried away
with all the men on it. The loss of the Russians
was estimated at 2,000 killed and drowned. The loss
of the Turks was insignificant.

The following is from an Ibraila letter of the 9th
inst. :—Notwithstanding the rigour of the season—
for the ground is still covered with snow, and the
nights are bitterly cold—the Turks have esta-
blished within the last few days a small camp in
the plain of Matschin, near enough to their batte-
ries to protect them against a new attack by land.
The typhus abdominalis had broken out iu the
Russian hospitals. To-day the captain who com-
manded the above-mentioned attack was buried.
There is a complete panic amongst the commerce
of our port ; the storehouses are full of grain, and
few vessels are expected ; the result is that the
merchants, foreseeing the sad events of which this
town may be the theatre at any moment, endeavour
to save a portion of the property by sending it into
the interior of the country. Unhappily this is ren-
dered almost impossible, as all the bullock-waggons
have been called into requisition by the army of
occupation ; they are not to be found at any price.
To judge from the preparations which are being
made on a large scale, the Russians have not aban-
doned their long-cherished plan of crossing the Da-
nube. Their last plan is said to be the following :
—By means of the bridge now under construction
in the timber-yards of Galatz they will cross the
river opposite that town ; there they will establish
a battery to defend their bridge, and, crossing the
plain at Zatoha, they will follow the road along the
foot of the mountains which leads directly to
Matschin.
At the same time the flotilla, consisting of two
steamers and 8 gun-boats, carrying in all 32 guns,
namely 4 on each steamer and 3 on each gun-boat,
will attack Matschin in the flank, by doubling the
Wallachian island at the point called Goura-Jalo •
mitza. Independently of these two attacks, simul-
taneous on different points, tho batteries on the
Wallachian island, taking advantage of the con-
fusion, will attack the Turkish batteries on that
side.

A letter from Bucharest, 10th, says :—" M. de
Laurin, Consul-General of Austria, has received a
notification from Baron de Bruck, that the Turks
will respect steamers navigating on the Danube
under the Austrian flag. Prince Gortschakoff, in
a visit to M. de Laurin, is said to have declared
that Russia would do the same so long as Austria
shall remain neutral. The sending of steamers to
protect and save Austrian property in those coun-
tries is, however, about to be prevented, by the
circumstance that the Russians are about to throw
bridges across the Danube in furtherance of their
preparations."

NEUTRALITY OF THE GERMAN POWERS.
A telegraphic despatch from Vienna says, the
ostensible object of the treaty between Austria
and Prussia, a draft of which was sent from Vienna
to Berlin on the 23d, is the maintenance of the
neutrality of the two States and of Germany ;
but, in fact, the treaty is the instrument of an
offensive and defensive alliance.
The terms, however, are not yet definitively
settled, but the Austrian Correspondenz, in refer-
ence to this subject, says that there is no reason
to doubt that a closer alliance, and a more perfect
understanding, will be the result of the intercom-
munications of the two cabinets.
We stated yesterday that Baron Hess left Vienna
on the 26th on a mission to Bertha, with regard to
the treaty. We extract the following from a St.
Petersburgh letter of the 19th :—" I learn from a
good source that the Court of Russia has recognised
the neutrality of Austria and Prussia, and that
the more readily as he had never expressed a desire
to see them act differently. The Russian Govern.
ment is convinced that it is sufficiently strong to
await all eventualities. Up to the present moment,
it has given assistance to others, but has never de-
manded any. There is no question of a new attempt
at mediation. Notwithstanding, the Russian Go-
vernment is not altogether pleased with the attitude
assumed by Germany."
A Berlin letter of the 24th says :—" In the com-
mittee on the loan, M. de Manteuffel is endeavour-
ing to combat the objections brought forward
against the policy of the Government, by saying
that the Government has not manifested, in the
course of the negotiations, any preference
for Russia, . and would not allow itself to
be carried over to that side. The proposition of
the deputy Keller to limit the publicity of the pro-
ceedings in the Second Chamber will, it is thought,
bA adopted. According to it, on the motion of the
President or of two members, the chamber is to
form itself into a secret committee to decide if the
sitting is to be a secret one or not. This proposi-
tion is probably intended to prevent the discussions
on the loan from being made public.
As a pendant to the new Portafoglio, which
Russian diplomacy has had printed at Berlin, and
containing the notes of Russia on the affair of the
East, the first number of the documents of Russian
diplomacy has appeared. The most important in
the collection is the secret and confidential circular
addressed to the Russian diplomatic agents in Ger-
many, in 1839, and contained in the diplomatic
revelations published in February, 1851. The ob-
ject of this circular is to make known that the
demands addressed to the Germanic Confederation,
both as regards its position at home and abroad,
have for object to take Russia as its protector.