The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-20 00:00:00

THE DANUBE.

In a letter from Widdin of the 4th we read—By
the advice of English and French engineers, our
entrenchments round Kalafat have been contracted
at certain points, and at the same time fortified yet
more strongly. On this account the foraging posts
of Maglavit, Komon, Krutsha ili Piatra, and
lulThupert have been withdrawn and stationed be-
aind the line of ranipa is before Kalafat. Only
one has been left in Golencza, in order to take of
the- the first transports. All the sick and wounded
t can be moved have been removed to Widdin.
All the corps from Widdin, as far as Rassova, are
in readiness. Omer Pasha has iusi.ected in person
all the more 'important positions—Silistria in par-
ticular, and the Roman wall (Trajau's) have been
Ivell fortified. Turin; Guirgevo, Oltenitza, Wadu-
Elilistri, and Kalarash are incessantly harassed by
our different corps, and all the attempts of the
Russians to plant themselves on the right bank are
*beaten back. The loss is heavy; and, unfortu-
nately, many of their wounded encroach upon our
hospitals intended solely for our own men. The
fugitives—whole families, with their flocks and
herds—from the left bank come, however, so com-
pletely starved out, that fokter has become very
scarce, and is a want that Ulna 'be promptly at-
tended to. Our invalids and woun led, in both
Widdin and Kalafat, amount to-day to no more
than 9 per cent. of the entire force under arms.

at Fort St. Nicolai, ur Sh-fkaiil.- It appears that
a body of Riis.4ians had secretly moved from Alex-
an,,lropol, or Guinri, with tie intelliton of attacking
Selim, -liethg ativised of their pur
pose, pushed forward a force to OsergA!i, a suiall
fortress in advance of SlieCiatil, and took possesii6n
aft before the Russians -could.conie up to save it;
nothing more had oc6urred -when the aide-de-camp.
let. Both shefkatil, or St. Nicola', and Oierreth
are- within the' Russo-G-ebrgian territory, and are
not far from Datouin ; the t o places are distinctly
nv rkjd in Wyld's map d the Ottoman Empire.
As aoineans of trying to check the mortality among
the men stowed in the - over-crowded and ill-ven-
tilated barracks and khans of this place, two
battalions of the healthiest and strongest men have.
vacated their quarters.. and marched to Hassan-
Kaleh, a. village 18 miler north-ehst of Erzeronm,
on the road, or 'track, towards Kars We are all
anxiously. on the look out for a .ehaugoin the wea-•
ther, but the snow still continues •to fall ;' it is,
however, watery. This new feature, and the then-
mometer marking several degrees- higher' than it
did last week, indicate an apprbaching thaw.'
.2TARCH 21.--Nothing has occurred since my last,
of the 17th inst., except that the new Governor,
Feizoollah Pasha, has been actively employed in-
forlarding cannon, aMinunition, and stores to the
head-quarters' • awl yigorous measures are.. tit
length taken by all parties to be ready to open-
'the campaign the middle or end of next month,
weather permitting. .The- .I:ea-vy- battery Can-
non, So long lying idle here, --have been dis-
mounted, awl placed upon sledges composed of two..
heaVy logs of wood attached to each other in the
form of an acute triangle, with the base behind and
the apex at the yoke, the muzzle 'of -the gun- being
fixed in front. They are dragged by oxen, as are
also the light fell pieces; but these latter are not
dism6ntited. Ahmed Pasha, the ex-Mushir of the
Army, arrived here a few days ago, with two other
Pits Las, Ferik Alec and Mustapha, and several
cob n ,Is and other officers.. They.have been under-
going-examination. and evidence has been taken of
their cowardlyconduct at Akiska. On their arrival
at.Cimstantiimple, it is said, they will be tried by
a court-martial. They have since departed, and
are all under strict surveillance. By a letter from.
Kars, 'received last night, it appears that, in
Consequence ..of the judicious measures taken.
and - followed. up by the new Mushir, Zarif
Mustapha; under the advice of Kurschid
Pasha (General Guyon), sickness is rapidly dimin-
ishing, tie men having been relieved from their
over-crowded state by distributing a portion of
them in the neighbouring villages, also -by
,giving
them letter rations (particularly bread) arid cloth-
ing, and
,otherwise attending to -their wants and
comforts ; they needed this attention, poor fellows,
after the infainOus way in which they were neglected
y the deposed Mushir. An Armenian spy has
'been caught in the act of taking a list of the cannon,
their weight of metal, number of ballF, &c. Hav-
ing been subjected to the punishment of the stick,
he confessed having been sent by the Russian officer
commanding at Gumri to Kars for that purpose,
and also implicated several Armenians in tne town,
who were in the habit of sending information to the
enemy.

AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA.

VrENNA, WEDNESDAY EVENING.—Baron Hess

turned "from Berlin last night ; the result of his
mission is not yet known. A misunderstanding
I,Aween Lord Redeliffe and Baron Btuek is said to

have arisen ;it Constantinople.
The accounts received from Vienna and Berlin
yesterday. (Tuesday) by the Paris correspondent of
the -"limes are describe;l as favourable. With refe-
rence to Austria, if I may credit letters proceeding
from au excellent authority, one whose position:
enables him to lie exceedingly well•iuformed, and
who has no motive to be otherwise than impartial,
I should say, that of the complete adherence of that
Power to the policy, and before long to the act§,
of the Western Gaverumenta there cannot be a
doubt. It is, of course, with diffidence that I' would
venture an opinion on what passes at such a dis-
tance ; but that which I give expression to is
founded on the reports of a per Mon at Vienna,
with the best opportunity of acquiring information,
and very competent to form an estimate. He an-
nounces what has been already known, namely, that
after much delay and many hesitations on the part
of the King of Prussia, both as to the title and
wording of the document proposed by Atistria for
signature to-the members Of the Vienna con erence,
the final protocol was sinned on the 9th inst. It
begins by declaring -the determination of the Four
Powers to guarantee the in tegrit yand independence
of the Ottumam Empire, and to obtain the evacua-

tion of the Dam' . "Principalities. Austria and
Prussia-approve of the coercive measures adopted
by the Western Powers, that the declara-
•tion of war, which thoy consider founded
en drait. coutraJ-iog parties pledge them-
selves not to treat sepaiaely with Russia,
and to persevere ill their exertions to king about
the conuusiou of peace, on the same principle
which hitherto has invariably guided them. Austria
wa-4 desirous that this last clause shot& I be couched
in stroriger terms, and should lay down the cas de
guerre ; but Prussia raised_ objections, not wishing
to bind herself to act on any specified contingency,
or to appear to join in •a coo4tion, ant insisted on
being at. liberty to adopt the line of conduct best
suited to her interests. -The word was accordingly
omitted, and the respective parties were left per-
fectly free to bide their time.
The saute aceoun.smeution that the private treaty

between Austria ant Prussia, wnich .M. de Hess is
negotiating at Berlin, is likely to be soon signed.:
On its conclusion depends the accession of all the
minor States of Germany to the all'ance of these
two Powers. Stu- mid that negotiation be broken
-off the G-srmanic Confederation would be de facto at
an end, one portion siding with Austria and the
other with Prus,iia: The anxiety of Austria to ob-
tain that treaty accounts for her longanhnity to
wards Prussia, and her reserve towards the Western
Powers. Austria is at this moment, and has been
for some time, in the worst possible odour at St. -Pe-
tersburg-far more than even England and France.
If she has not ostensibly joined the Western Powers
in tnesummonsesa, id ressed to Russia to evacua,te the
Principalities, she, nefertheress,thost energetically
supported it .; and it is certain that the position of

• •
her Ambassador is at this moment untenable. Aus-
tria has, moreover, since the pAssage of the Danube,
notified the Emperor Nicholas, that having vio-
lated the pledges given by him at Olmutz, she 'con-
siders herself a, relieved from all previous obliga-
tions and engagements. Austria actually appre-
hends an attack, on the 'part ~of Rtr,sia, 'and before
she-accepts the co-nperittiln of a French army Of%
fared her by the Emperor Napoleon, she is desirous
of bringing her negotiations with Prussia to a con-
clusion.

TIL'E I"SUN, Lo.ND N,

.
profitable manner, by, strengtheiiiirr- their position
ou all sides heher fur an tack or
are
nce.
):4,itals,. depowts,t and cow Ili I,latU
ications are not
Made and Secured .in a day. The movements of a
Russian army are al ways slow, but steady. Patient
perseverance has often won for them the day. -