The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 5, 1854.
~,,,VVVT?VIVrCITP ti TT A 'vs V

;t. 100
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views. The rumour of the nomination of Aali Pacha
(late Governor of Smyrna) to the post of Minister
of Foreign Affairs is daily gaining more consis-
tency ; and in that case, it is thought that Reschid
Pacha will be raised to the dignity of Grand Vizir.
As long as Mehemet Ali Pacha maintains himself
as Minister of War, the peace party cannot gain
the upper hand. Riza Pacha, who has just been
named Minister of Marine, is looked upon as the
probable successor to this post.
The four Powers have demanded an armistice,
in order to enter upon fresh negotiations, tending
to a peaceable arrangement of the Oriental ques-
tion. The Porte replied to this demand at first
negatively, and then declared that no such demand
could be submitted to a council unless accompanied
by a clear and definite declaration of the basis upon
which the new negotiations would be entered upon,
as otherwise au armistice would not be compatible
with the honour of the country, especially after the
late naval defeat at Sinope. On this the British
and French ambassadors held several councils, and
have drawn up a note embodying the points which
will principally be treated in the new negotiations,
and demanding an armistice in order to bring the
actual differences to a solution. It was presented
on the 15th. lam informed that one of the prin-
cipal points referred to in this document is full and
equal protection on the part of the Sultan to his
Christian subjects generally, and the return of
Russia to the position occupied by that Power
before the arrival of Prince Menschikoff. The
Porte engages to extend, at the demand of the four
Powers, to all its Christian subjects, the privileges
which Russia was desirous of obtaining for the
Turkish subjects of the Greek profession at its de,
mand exclusively. The last week has been r,z,gsecl
in meetings of the ambassadors of the great 'Powers,
and councils at the Porte. On Saturday a grand
council was convened, at which the Memas also
attended, likewise Riza Pacht, the new Minister
of Marine.
Since the disaster of Sinope, events seem to be
taking a more peaceable turn. It will, however,
require very great ability to disentangle them from
their present complications. As things at present
stand, one great and distinct fact presents itself.
The. Russians have the command of the Black Sea,
and the Turkish army in Asia is cut off from the
source of its supplies. Varna and the European
coast of the Black Sea are menaced likewise, and
in fact, unless Britain and France interfere, the
Russians can lord it in every part of the Euxine,
and not a Turkish ship dare leave the Bosphorus.
Under such circumstances, peace-making, one
might reasonably expect, ought not to meet very
great difficulties. When we, however, see Walla-
chia and Moldavia occupied by Russian armies, and
consider the stout position taken up by Omer
Pacha on the Danube, and Kalafat garrisoned by
20,000 Turks, well entrenched, and determined to
keep their hold upon Little Wallachia, and begin
to consider the origin and piogress of this great
question, its final settlement to the satisfaction of
all parties has a very distant aspect. Will the
Russians evacuate the Principalities ? Prince
Gortschakoff, the Russian general in command
there, has just made General Budberg governor of
the two Principalities, in the place of the Princes
Ghika and Stirbey, who have left the country.
A recent letter from Ibraila says :—" The little
snow that has fallen the last few days has cleared
the atmosphere, leaving a hard dry frost (6 to 7 de-
gress below freezing point Reaumur). This renders
it very difficult to finish the great ditch near the
great battery at Triboli. If the cold gradually in-
creases as it has done hitherto, accompanied by a
strong north wind, the Danube will be frozen over
before Christmas, and the Turks may cross and get
round the fortifications. The people of the country
say that two more nights like those we have already
had, with the north wind, are sufficient to totally
freeze the river, so as to permit the passage of '
troops, baggage, and artillery, and that once the
Danube is well frozen, it will remain so for some
time, though the temperature becomes milder.
Under such circumstances the Turks might attack
this place with good hope of success. It is a
curious coincidence—at least, people say so—that
the Danube has always frozen the years in which
the Russians occupied the Principalities. They
bring cold with them it would seem."
The Queen and another man-of-war, forming
part of the squadron under Sir Edmund Lyons,
have just arrived. The French Consul-General of
Bucharest has come here. Colonel Colquhoun, the
consular representative of her Britannic Majesty in
the Danubian Principalities, is likewise shortly
expected.
On Thursday Lord Stratford de Redcliffe gave
a grand entertainment to the whole of the corps
diplematique, and on Saturday the British resi-
dents of Constantinople were invited there to an
entertainment on a large scale. Upwards of 40
covers were laid, and the Queen's health was pro-
posed by the ambassador, and drunk with accla-
mations, the band playing " God save the Queen."
In my last letter I mentioned the capture of a
Russian war schooner at the entrance of the Bos-
phorus, coming from the Black Sea. This oc-
curred on the night of the 14th. The captain
and crew are at present in the fort of Anadoli-
Kayak as prisoners. Mustafa Boy, the commander
of this fort (in the Bosphorus), on seeing the
schooner, put out in a boat, and pulled for her.
He called to them to surrender, which they were
obliged to do immediately, as the batteries of the
forts were turned towards them. The schooner's
name is Aloupka ; she carries six guns, has a cap-
tain (Davidoff), one sergeant, five corporals, and
fourteen seamen ; there was also an engineer officer
of the name of Sarakine on board. The Aloupka
has been drawn under the batteries of fort Anadoli-
Kayak, and the Turkish flag hoisted in her. Be •
fore surrendering the Russians threw a great many
things into the water, which are supposed to have
been combustible matters. Hence the belief that
they had come to burn the fleets. A great many
papers and letters in the Russian language were
found on board ; until they are translated the truth
cannot transpire.
A recent letter from Adrianople says :—" On the
7th of this month, at Adrianople, a Mahomedan
was beheaded, who had declared that Christ was
the true prophet and not Mahomed. Before sen-
tencing him to death, the authorities tried in vain
to make him renounce his faith ; he persisted in his
professions, and did not renounce—not even at the
last. A great many other persons have been dis-
covered professing the same ideas, and it is believed
that they are a secret association with a chief, and
hold private meetings. Our Government does all
it can for the families of the Redifs (nationalguards),
who have left for the war. Mehemet Pacha, the
governor, has himself taken fifty under his care and
provides for them. The chief of each quarter of
the town has orders to distribute small sums amongst
these people, in order to keep them from want.
Last week 72 cannons and 50 waggons arrived here
with ammunition ; The whole, as also a supply of
cannon balls, have left for either Shumla or
Widdin. The other day an officer arrived here
from Constantinople, with two soldiers, all dressed
a la Cosaque, to raise volunteers for that force,
which is just being formed. He succeeded in get-
ting some 200 young men to join, mostly Greek
stablemen. He has since left for the Danube. A
person has, however, remained here to continue
the enlistment."

iAberdeen .

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I have just received the following letter from
Trebizond, which, though it contains much matter
already well known, nevertheless mentions a few
novel circumstances about the action at Sinope.
The news from the army in Asia is very bad :
" TREBIZOND, DEC. 10, 1853.
",The British courier from Persia and Erzeroum
has just arrived, bringing news that ten days ago
abody of 3,000 Russian troops attacked the Turkish
force stationed at Asdrakan, consisting of 20,000
men, under the command of Yeli Pacha. The
outposts of this force were destroyed by the Rus-
sians. On the first attack of the Russians the ir-
regular Turkish militia took to flight, and the rest
of the army followed ;their example. Veli Pacha
was struck by a bullet in the chest. Ali Pacha
was obliged with his own hand to kill five men to
make the troops stand ; it was, however, all of no
avail ; they were seized with panic, and could not
be brought to face the enemy.
" Though you have, no doubt, been made ac-
quainted with the particulars of the disastrous
action at Sinope, nevertheless I feel sure that the
following account of that affair, which has been
given me by persons who were there at the time,
will much interest you. In one of my preceding
communications, I told you that a Russian squad-
ron was cruising in the waters of Sinope. On last
Tuesday a frigate detached itself from the rest,
and after having reconnoitred the position of the
Turkish squadron at anchor there, in number ten
frigates and two steamers, and after having well
observed them, returned to the other Russian
ships.

" On the same day the whole Russian squadron,
composed of seven line-of-battle ships, and three
steamers, under the command of Admiral Nachi-
moff, sailed for Sinope, and cast anchor near the
harbour. On Wednesday, the 30th of November,
the Rugsian fleet weighed anchor, and taking ad-
vantage of a favourable wind presented itself be-
fore the port.
" The Russian admiral sent forward three line-
of-battle ships, all three-deckers, and one frigate,
arid the rest of the squadron stood back in two
lines. Before commencing the engagement, the
Russian admiral sent a parlamentary to the Turk-
ish admiral, Osman Pacha. He, however, did
not give him an answer, but ordered the ports
to be opened, and firing commenced.
" Immediately, the three Russian line-of-battle
hips, and the frigate, the only ships that took part
in the action, opened their fire, and in less than

three hours the whole Turkish squadron was com-
pletely burnt and destroyed.
" Only one, a steamer, the Taif, succeeded in
making its escape, starting off at the commence-
ment of the battle, and reaching Constantinople,
as we since learn. Osman Pacha had a leg broken,
and was made prisoner • his leg was afterwards
amputated on board the Russian vessel. Hussein
Pacha, the second in command, is amongst the
killed. More than half the town of Sinope is de-
stroyed. The loss of the Russians is not very
important. Their ships were principally damaged
in the rigging.
" After the battle the Russian Admiral ad-
dressed a letter to the Austrian Consular Agent,
deploring the damage done to the town, and stating
the orders of his Sovereign, the Emperor, to have
commanded him to destroy this fleet wherever he
should meet with it, because it had carried ammu-
nition to the coast of Circassia, in order to provoke
the populations of those countries to revolt against
the Russian Government. The Russian squadron
after the battle cast anchor again outside the port.
The next morning a steamer joined them there.
It is thought that the Archduke Constantine was
on board, for on its arrival it was saluted by the
whole squadron, and by acclamation. The same
day they all left.
" This place is quiet, principally owing to the
energy displayed by the governor. The Mahome-
dan population is, however, much exasperated
against tl Christians, and especially the Euro-
peans, and if some Russian ships were to show
themselves in these waters, the consequences might
be very serious."

FRANCE.
The formal ?answer of the Emperor of Russia to
the Vienna propositions has not been as yet re-
ceived in Paris ; it is expected from day to day.
Few venture to hope that it will be anything but
a peremptory refusal. The decision of the. Emperor
appears already to be known; having turned every
day to account for his vast preparations in all parts
of the empire, it is not likely that he will allow so
much cost and trouble to go for nothing. A pri-
vate letter from St. Petersburg, dated the 25th,
contains some interesting details, which there is no
time to-day to transcribe. The first paragraph,
however, is as follows :
" There reigns here at this moment, in all branches of
the public service, a movement and activity, of which
there has been no example since the preparations of the
army in 1812. On seeing how the minds and the efforts
of the entire nation are turned towards war, one would
say that Russia thinks herself on the eve of a new inva-
sion. Each day numerous fddtingues (couriers) leave
for every part of the empire to hasten on the armaments.
Agents are sent about everywhere to wake up the fana-
ticism and ferocity of the Orthodox population and to
rousefrom the very depths of Asia the hordes of Kirghese,
Mongols, and Tartars, and precipitate them on the
Indus, with the hope of the sack and pillage of the Bri-
tish Presidencies."
When things are in such a state, it is probable
that the Czar will be as deaf to the charms, the
eloquence, and the wiles of diplomacy, as he is
now to generosity, common justice, or humanity.
In the official circles of Paris it is believed that war
is inevitable. The decision of the Emperor
Nicholas with respect to the Vienna proposition,
as we have already said, was known, though not
officially. If we can credit what is said, His Ma-
jesty's remark when he heard of his being asked to
send au Envoy to the Conference was, that he
never would send any General of his to sign his
own condemnation—his own dishonour.
It is not doubted that a corps d'armee will be
despatched at the proper time to Turkey. It will
amount, it is said, to 70,000 men. Two consider-
able camps will be formed ; one, the most impor-
tant, at Adrianople, and the other probably close
to Constantinople. The former to be under the
command of General Canrobet, the other under the
immediate direction of the Minister of War, who
will, in fact, command the whole expeditionary
army. -The combined fleets will be commanded by
Admiral Dundas. It is said that Candia would
probably be the general depot of the army. It is
stoutly maintained by the Russian party here that
Austria will be found side by side with Russia
whenever the struggle comes ; and that she has no
idea of realising the menace of Schwartzenberg,
and of astonishing Europe by her "immense in-
gratitude."
At the reception on Sunday at the Tuileries the
Emperor, it was remarked, showed marked atten-
tion to .de Kisseleff. His Majesty made a point
of saying something gracious' or polite to each
member of the diplomatic corps, and his phrase to
the representative of Russia was, " J'espere, Mon-
sieur l'Ambassadeur, que Panne() 1854 sera bonne
pour nous tous." The evening before there was a
grand ball at the Princess Mathilde's, to usher in
the new year. The Emperor and the Empress, who
were present, showed great attention to the minis-
ters of Russia and Austria, and the Empress was
graciously pleased to dance with both M. Hubner
and M. do Kisseleff. This latter also had the
honour of waltzing with the Princess Mathilde.
Who would ever suppose that such a display of
imperial civilities could be the prelude to a terrible
war ?
The levee held on Monday evening at the Palace
of the Tuileries was the most brilliant remembered
since the Restoration. The Court " mantle" made
its appearance for the first time on this occasion,
and added greatly to the effect. The gentlemen
were permitted to escort their ladies as far as the
entrance of the Hall of the Marshals, where they
were received by the chamberlains, who conducted
them to the Hall of the Throne and presented
them to their Majesties. This ceremony being ter-
minated the gentlemen were admitted into the
Hall of the Marshals, which they completely filled.
There were at least 2,000. present, belonging to
various rations, and exhibiting a great variety of
the richest uniforms and costumes. Shortly,
afterwards the presentation of the gentlemen com-
menced. The first ushered into the Hall of the
Throne were the dignitaries of State, the senators,
deputies, &c. Next came the foreigners, and after
them the public functionaries and authorities of
high rank. The chamberlains took down the
names of each, and announced them as they pre-
sented them, first to the Empress, and next to the
Emperor. They afterwards retired to the Hall of
the Marshals, where the Emperor joined tnem
when the ceremony was over, and walked through
the crowd, addressing familiarly all persons known
to him.
The train of the Empress measured at least ten
feet in length, and was borne by two ladies richly
dressed.
It is stated positively, says the Paris correspon-
dent of the Times, in some political circles that the
most flattering ffers have been again urged by
Russia on France, or rather the Emperor of the
French, to induce him to break off the alliance
with England. It is known that the " fusion"
owes the sort of success it has met with to the in-
fluence of the Emperor of Russia ; and, seeing that
his Majesty is reported to have on many occasions
expressed no very flattering opinion of the Bour-
bons in general, and that the Orleanist branch
had the honour of his special dislike, no one
doubted that it was effected for the purpose of
annoying the present ruler of France. If what
is now said can be depended upon, the EmperoE
of Russia, fresh from his successful essay at con-
ciliation, is ready to throw the Bourbons, older
and younger, overboard, and whistle the " fusion"
and. all its anticipated consequences to the
winds, if Louis Napoleon will consent, not to co-
operate actively with him, but to become neutral
in his quarrel with Turkey, and, above all, to leave
England in the lurch. This, it appears, is not the
only temptation that has been held out ; promises
of aggrandisement on the continent of Europe and
i
out of it have been lavished; but, it s added, with-
out effect. It is very probable that the Emperor
Nicholas has not the cause of the Bourbons so much
at heart as to prevent him from undoing his own
work if there was any chance of advantage to him.
The mention of the "fusion " reminds me of
some absurdly false stories which circulate among
some of the Legitimists, and which, though they
are scarcely worth recording, I may mention, to
show how far the gossip of political society in
Paris goes. It is gravely asserted that agents are
very busy at work in the army, since the "fusion,"
to create a spirit of insubordination against the
actual Government, and in favour of the Princes of
Orleans ; that frequent reports are addressed by
those agents to the family in. England, and by
them transmitted to an illustrious person who
communicates them to the Government ; that the
health of the Prince of Orleans was given at an
assemblage of officers of a regiment in the division
commanded by a well-known General in France ;
that the General in question has been asked by
his superiors as to the truth of such a fact having
taken place, but of which he declared he had no
knowledge ; that he is accordingly to be removed
from his post. To this are added other details still
more absurd, but all pretending to show the
existence of an extensive plot to gain over the
army. It is also stated that circulars, printed in
large type, have been distributed in the departments
by unsten and mysterious hands, with the words
" Le Tyran va faire un coup de police."
It is affirmed in well-informed circles that the
Hungarian refugees are quietly making prepara-
tions to take part in the coming struggle, should
it so happen that Austria should declare openly,
in favour of Russia, or even manifest any symp-
toms of connivapce with that power. General
Klapka is already at Constantinople, and is to be
shortly joined by several officers of his nation.
Colonel Count Zamoyski, nephew of Prince Czar-
toriski, will leave Paris on the sth instant for Con-
etantinople. It is generally considered that