The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-20 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—It is, perhaps, unnecessary to contradict any
statement which appears respecting England or Poland
in the New Gazette of Prussia, but as a letter, purporting,
to be written by a correspondent in London, which ap-
peared in that paper on the Bth instant, has been trans-
lated and transferred to your columns, and has even led
to inquiries being made at the chambers of this associa-
tion on the part of the Commissioners of Police, I may,
perhaps, be excused for alluding to the subject. The
letter, among other statements of a similar character,
contains the following :—" You may readily form an
idea of the fanaticism which the declaration of war by
Turkey has caused among the emigrants, particularly
the Poles and Hungarians, I am also informed that
the Polish Literary Society has at its disposal 6,000
muskets, which are now on board two vessels at South-
ampton intended to convey the Magyar-Polish Legion
to Turkey. It is said that 900 Poles, completely armed,
and commanded by Colonel Oporski, will leave South-
ampton to-morrow. The Literary ociety displays the
greatest activity ; half the street in which it holds its
meetings is blocked up by Polish refugees."
In reply to this London correspondent, I beg to
state that this society (the only Polish society which has
assumed the name of " Literary "), so far from having
at its disposal 6,000 muskets, has not, nor, to the best
of my belief, ever has had, at its disposal even a single
musket, or arms of any species whatever, unless it be
the sword of the brave General Bern, delivered here as
a relic. The society displays no more than its usual
activity. The meetings of the council are held, as has
been the practice ever since the establishment of the as-
isnogc
si a
ht iaovne ifne
vlBs
e3v2e,
roanl c emae -nwt
he
se kh
eoenaly
eanntde theird te
thpero ceesingled
object of affording relief to refugees who are incapa-
citated by sickness from following their usual employ-
ments. There has been no unusual attendance of Polish
refugees at the chambers of the association ; on an ave-
rage of many months certainly not more than 20 daily.
Duke-street, in which the association is situated, has
consequently not been half blocked up by Polish refu-
gees, as you may possibly be aware from personal obser-
vation. I do not refer to the other statements contained
in the letter, many of which are no less improbable and
ridiculous than those which I have quoted, because the
latter alone concern the Literary Association, and the
falsehood of the others is not known to me of my per-
sonal knowledge.
May I be allowed to add that the Preussiche Kreuz
Zeitung does not appear to be in advance of the New
Gazette of Prussia in the accuracy of its foreign corre-
spondence. The former journal, of the 4th inst., stated,
as appears by the Allgenteine Zeitung of the 10th inst.,
—" With regard to the absence of the secretary of the
Literary Society (Szulczewski), I am informed that he
has really been in Sheffield arranging these purchases of
arms, which are to be kept in readiness for the enrolment
of the part of the legion to be armed here." I have never
been in Sheffield in my life ; no purchases of arms have
been made—no orders for arms given by this society ;
and therefore the purchases alluded to are probably no
less imaginary than the 6,000 muskets at the disposal of
the association.

It is difficult to say whether these statements have
been made with any political object, or with the view of
defeating the appeal which this society is usually con-
strained to make at this period of the year to the humane
and generous feelings of the public, independently of
political considerations.
I am directed by the council of this association to
make this communication, and
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
C. SZULCZEWSKI, Resident Secretary.
Literary Association of the Friends of
Poland, Sussex-chambers, Duke•street,
St. James's, Oct. 19.

AN ARTFUL DODGE.—An Italian refugee, Della
M—, opened setae time ago, at the Batignolles, a
shop for the sale of maccaroni and parmesan cheese. But
not succeeding as he had anticipated, he, to the surprise
of everybody, took a new shop by the side of it, which
he caused to be splendidly decorated, and above which
he placed the inscription " Pharmacie du Progres," He
then gave himself out as the brother-in-law of the chief
of an important drug establishment at Naples, and pro-
duced papers which appeared clearly to prove that qua-
lity. He afterwards obtained on credit several kilo-
grammes of quinine and iodine, several bottles of acetate
of morphia, and other expensive chemical. To inspire
more confidence he sent off the things to Marseilles, to
the address of different persons, charged, it is said, to
forward them to Naples ; but a day or two after he wrote
to Marseilles to have them sent back again, on pretence
that an error had been committed, and he then sold
them for whatever they would fetch. As the substances
t
were very expensive he realised considerable sums.
length his manner of proceeding became known, and a
warrant wa,s_issued for his arrest ; but when the com-
missary,of police went on Saturday to execute it he had
fled.

LATEST FOREIGN NEWS.

FRANCE.

It is stated that anapplication has just been made
to the French Government, in the name of the
Sultan for two General officers (one a General of
Division, the other a General of Brigade) to be at-
tached to the Turkish armies—the former to
that of the Danube under Omar Pasha, the latter
to the army of Asia under Abdi Pasha ; and,
further, that two superior officers and three or
four captains of the staff, two or three superior
officers of Engineers, three or four majors of In-
fantry, shall be also attached to the staffs of the
two armies respectively. It is not known whether
that specific demand will be complied with.
On Sunday last, the 16th inst., the Emperor
gave au audience at the Palace of Compiegne to
the Chamber of Commerce of St. Quentin. M.
Picard, one of the directors of the Great Northern
Railway, and President of the Chamber of Com-
merce, presented the different members of the
Chamber of Commerce to his Majesty. In the
course of the interview, Louis Napoleon made some
particular inquiries a 3 to the state of trade at the
present moment at St. Quentin ; to which M.
Picard replied that the trade of the place was
upon the whole in a satisfactory state as com-
pared with the last few years, but that
business would have been much more active this
season but for the state of political affairs. He
added that the incessant alarm in which the public
had for some time past been kept, by the threaten-
ing aspect of the Eastern question, had necessarily
had an unfavourable influence on commercial affairs.
The Emperor replied, " This is perfectly true, but
I have every reason to believe that the Eastern
question will be settled pacifically, and that within
a very short period." These words made a deep im-
pression on the members of the deputation, and no
doubt, in the present state of the question, they
are of importance.
It has been remarked since the Emperor has been
at Compeigne that his Majesty, when driving out
with the Empress, when at the theatre, and on
other public occasions, places her on his right band,
in place of on the left, where she generally sits.
According to one of the ancient usages of the
French monarchy, it was only when the, Queen was
enciente that she was placed on the right hand of
the sovereign. That custom was restored by the
present Emperor a few months ago, when the
Empress Eugenie was in an interesting situation ;
and it is consequently concluded that her Majesty
is once more in a position to hold out to Louis
Napoleon an expectation of an heir to his throne,
It is also remarked that the Empress contrary
to ordinary habit, goes to the chase in a carriage,
and not on horseback.

The Marquis de Lawcestine has received a letter
from Marshal Vaillant, announcing that the Empe-
ror has placed 2,000 fr. at the disposal of the com-
mittee for erecting a monument to the memory of
Marshal Gerard.

On Friday the Dowager Grand Duchess Stephanie
of Baden is expected to arrive at Compiegne. Her
Imperial and Royal Highness will be accompanied
by the Countess de Kageneck and the Baroness de
Menzingen, her ladies of honour, and by Baron de
Schreckenstein.

Contrary to what was announced by the letters
from Constantinople of the evening of the sth, the
Friedland left on the morning of the 6th, in tow of
the Mogador, steam-frigate, to join the squadron at
Besika. The Gomer and the Magellan steam-fri-
gates, left on the same day, and the Sane two days
before, for the same destination. The only French
vessels remaining on the 6th in the Bosphorus were
the Chaptal corvette, the Ajaccio, and the Solon,
which arrived there on the 6th from Toulon, after
having touched at Besika Bay.
The Debats says that it is not true, as asserted by
the German journals, that Count Xavier Brawicki
has gone to Constantinople—he has not left Paris.
It was confidently reported at the Bourse yes-
day, that in consequence of the continued diminu-
tion-of the metallic reserve the Bank of France has
resolved to raise its rate of discount to 4i, and
probably to 5 per cent. The measure is expected
to be adopted to-day (Thursday).
The Bourse was heavy yesterday, with little busi-
ness doing, and no political news current. The
Three per Cents. opened at 72f. 20c., fell to 72f.
10c., rose subsequently to 72f. 40c., and closed at
72f. 30c. for the end of the month. The Four-and-
a-Half per Cents. closed at 99f. 50c. ; Orleans Rail-
way shares, 1,150 f. ; Rouen, 1,022 f. 50c. • Havre,
480 f. ; Great Northern, 835 f. ; Paris and Stras-
burg, 906 f. 25c. ; Paris and Lyons, 887 f. 50c. ;
Western of France, 692 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux and
Cette, 580 f. ; Great Central, 512 f. 50c. ; Lyons
and Geneva, 505 f. ; Shares of the Bank of Cr&lit
Mobilier, 692 f. 59c. The Credit Fonder de France
opened at 585 f., and closed at 525 f.