The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 29, 1853.

occupations of the people, are some to be lumped
together, and others to enjoy the honour of dis-
tinct representation ? Are soldiers and the Royal
Navy to be classes, and policemen and sailors not ?
Are bankers to rejoice in an adequate supply of
M.P.'s, and pawnbrokers to be denied the honour ?
We believe all such devices to be mere paper
schemes, utterly incapable of reduction to practice.

To come to the point, we think the good old
simple idea of representative government, the go-
vernment of the majority, to be the only true one.
Not only are Englishmen used to it in every de-
partment of life, from a book club to the House
of Lords, and even, thanks to the House of Lords,
in a Church-rate meeting, but it is the only stable
equilibrium for a commonwealth—we may
indeed
say, the only plan which places the social pyramid
on its natural broad base. Of course majorities
may err to the full satisfaction of complacent
aristocracies and autocrats, but then they
have only themselves to thank, and. are not
likely either to repeat their errors very
often, or to rise, in insurrection, against
themselves. Moreover, the aristocracies and
autocrats too plainly enjoy no immunity from
vulgar errors. We do not plead infallibility,
but nature and safety on behalf of real majorities
of men. One grand advantage of abiding steadily
by this principle is the course to which it prompts
the minority. If conscious of being in the right,
morally or intellectually, it must vigorously com-
mence the desirable task of enlightenment. It
must use the press, the platform, and the
Parliamentary debate till the moderate are
gained, till the light is too strong to be
faced
without blenching by the obstinate ; and
we have seen this done so recently in the Catho-
lic, the Reform, and the Free-trade controversies,
that no reasonable man, with a good and important
cause, should despair of readily converting an igno-
rant and prejudiced majority against him into an
enlightened majority with him.
Our contemporaries to whom we have alluded
perplex themselves and fall into inconsistency,
through an oversight, sometimes a willing one, of
the single condition of a straightforward discus-
sion of the subject ; that is the independence of
the electors. Grant unintimidated voting in the
counties, and, after the abolition of the small
boroughs, unpurchased voting in the large towns,
and Liberals need to care but little to claim a
prescriptive number of Borough Members, nor
would landlords be much concerned to add to
•those of the counties. The first point, as
we have repeatedly maintained, for the Liberal
party is, to claim that voting should be
free ; obtain this, and it will find the votes of
freemen in counties as liberal as those in the
towns. The heart of the country is as sound
quite, as that of the town, and its intelligence is
not so different as urban and suburban vanity
would have us believe. Could it but breathe
freely at the polling-booth its.sturdy love of in•
dependence and its sound common sense would be
speedily apparent. The tenant-farmers could not,
as now, be utterly unrepresented, nor would they
be ashamed of their representatives beside those
of London or of Manchester.

Even as the case now stands, we do not believe
the Liberal party would lose by carrying out the
apportionment of the Members of the dis-
franchised boroughs amongst populous counties
as well as towns. Looking over the list of
eighty-nine boroughs under the line of five hundred
voters which we gave the other day, nearly all of
them will be found recorded in Dod as subject to
ducal, lordly, or untitled territorial " influence."
Their members are, for the more part, notoriously
county members already. Not only that, but the
boroughs were made or retained for the territorial
aristocracy by the authors of the Reform Bill.
However, the country understood it. Lord JOHN,
as he afterwards avowed, had this object dis-
tinctly in view. Hence we think the Liberal
party can lose but little in any case, while they
must gain something by the unavoidable enfran-
chisement of many large town constituencies. They
should, we think, therefore concede the point of
members being proportioned to electoral popula-
tion, and throw their whole strength in one de-
termined phalanx into the struggle for free voting.
in demanding this as the necessary condition of
the other, they will be consistent, and ultimately
must be victorious. The Ballot first, and then
as many county members as you like.

The operatives on " strike" are still madly per-
severing in the perilous course on which they
entered some four months since. They still "harden
their hearts," imputing acts which originated
merely in feelings of kindness and compassion to
timidity and vacillation. They are told that
they have only to continue firm a little time
longer and that the masters must yield, and they
are credulous enough to place some degree of
confidence in the statement. They are exhorted
not to throw away the effects of the sacrifices
already made—the privations already endured.
Gorgeous visions of future enjoyment are conjured
up to silence the querulous and strengthen the
hesitating. The tastes of all are studiously con-
sulted by the ingenious framers of the glittering
scenes. Steady middle-aged fathers of families
are informed that their leisure hours are to be
spent in " Jerry shops," perpetually singing that
" Britons never shall be slaves;" while their
wives, dressed in silks and satins, are to be their
entire time at home, superintending domestic
arrangements, cultivating their minds, or amusing
themselves ; while play ! play ! play ! an unre-
mitting round of play, is held forth to the juve-
niles of both sexes, who, notwithstanding their
seventeen weeks' holiday, are " not tired of play-
ing yet !" Such are the temptations held forth
to the malcontents, who do not, like MAHOMET,
defer the promised rewards to another world or an
after life, but excite the most fervent hopes of
their speedy, if not immediate, realisation.
That many, very many, of the parties implicated
in these unfortunate disputes are but too well
aware of the dangerous position in which they are
placed,
and would gladly effect a reconciliation
with e
r t thieni.r
ufon justlyr_t
offended and indignant masters,
is certain. Unfortunately, however, prudent coun-
selsc
are seldom listened to at a period of excite-
ment, when actual collisions have taken place.
The, more violent, who are, generally speaking, the
most energetic, so strenuously urge their opinions,
that an insignificant minority frequently prevails
over a decided majority. The delegates, too, who
.are so strongly interested in the continuance of the
struggle, lend all their influence and all their
eloquence to prevent the favourable reception of
p acific overtures. Intimidation, too, is practised
on an extensive scale. The so-called free men,
who are too proud and independent to accept any
suggestion from their employers, are to yield an
implicit and unreasoning obedience to the ukases
of their despotic rulers ; and woe betide the man
who ventures practically to assert the "free exer-
cise of his own opinions," if those opinions run
counter to the views of the well-paid delegates
and committee men, or of their faithful henchmen
to whom the duty of terrifying and coercing
the unruly is entrusted.

We do not, however, despair, notwithstanding
these inauspicious influences, of some symptoms of
re turning sanity becoming speedily visible. We can-
not forget that the turn-cuts are Englishmen, and

therefore though they suffer themselves to be de-
ceived and misled for a time, we entertain a
hope that they will suffer that sound practical
common-sense, which is the chief characteristic of
their countrymen, to come into operation, and
that they will, eventually, revolt against the des-
potism to which they are subjected. Let them
but calmly and deliberately consider the results
of all the protracted ".strikes" that have taken
place, and they will find that they have invaiia-
bly been most injurious to the working classes in
the broadest signification of the
phrase. All have
SUlTered deeply have / The masters had to sustain
severe pecuniary losses, not unfrequently
termi-
nating in the total loss of the capital invested, and
their own bankruptcy. But as such results would
inevitably follow if th ey submit ted to demands which
would destroy the entire trade of a district, they
might as well keep their establishments altogether
closed as open them for a brief term. The workmen
have, however, been by far the greatest sufferers.
The masters may have to surrender some of their
luxuries, possibly of their comforts ; but it is the

necessaries of the operatives that are placed in
jeopardy. It is impossible to depict the scenes of
misery and wretchedness that are of daily occur-
rence, the attenuated and care-worn aspect of wives
and children, constantly reminding the actors in
these matters of the fearful price that they are
paying for the indulgence of their evil passions.

The consequences of success are no less to be
deprecated than those of failure. Indeed, we believe
that they would be more pernicious. The de-
feated operatives, although much sadder, would
also be wiser men. A certain security would be
afforded that those who had been taught in the
school of bitter experience would not again in-
volve themselves in such a predicament. Capitalists
would advance their money freely, and trade
would speedily resume its ordinary course—while
the effect of a victory would be its stagnation and
cessation. Men, although they might keep at work for
a short time, for the purpose of winding up their
concerns, would speedily withdraw the remnants
of their property into safer speculation—while none
epuld be found able and willing to assume ti;•
positions thus vacated. Trade would not flourish
while its destinies were under the control of men
who ignored the laws of supply and demand, and
were prepared to vote for an advance in wages—
not because the masters could afford to give it,
but because they thought society ought to be re-
modelled. There is a natural law, which no
enactment of a Labour Parliament could repeal,
and that irrevocable law proclaims that trade to
be prosperous must be free—that its transactions
must be carried on without impediment or restric-
tion, and that there must be no undue interference
between them. A scale of prices might be agreed
on, but if that was above the market value, it
could not long be maintained. Of this the ope-
ratives may rest assured that they cannot perma-
nently raise, nor can the masters depress, wages
beneath the natural level, and every attempt to do
so, on either side, can only terminate injuriously
to all those who are already inflicting formidable
blows upon each other, although their true in-
terests are one and indivisible.

MONEY MARKET

AND
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CITY, TWO O'CLOCK.

The sales of cotton at Liverpool yesterday were
estimated at 7,000 bales, of which 1,000 American
were taken for export and on speculation. Tile
market closed, firmly, at previous rates. The sales
comprised 5,500 American, 100 Pernam and Ma-
ranham, at 6.3 d. to 6d. ; 100 Bahia, at 6,1 d. ;
4000 Egyptian, at 54c1. to 91d. ; and 100 Surat,
at 3d. to 3d. per lb. Railway Shares were fiat.
The six weeks' average price of wheat is 71s. Bd.,
and the last week's, 70s. The quantity of wheat
Bold last week, in the markets that make official
returns, was 71,764 quarters.

There is an absence of late arrivals with news of
interest from any quarter, and in business circles
generally an appearance of dullness prevails, pecu-
liar to the closing week of the year. From present
indications, however, there would speedily be a
revival of activity, if the course of political events
should not prove adverse.

Silver is in more demand, and not super•
abundant.

The last week's railway receipts ascertained up
to this day are in round figures as under :

1853. 1852.
Great Western
North-Western 55,142 49,866
South-Western
Brighton
Midland
South-Eastern. 14,145 14,141
Caledonian, and Edin. and Glasgow 13,937 12,683
Great Northern
Lancashire and Yorkshire
York and North Midland, New-
castle and Berwick, Leeds North- 27,520 24,438
ern

These returns are most satisfactory in most in-
stances, and considering how well the traffic has
for some months been kept up, it is obvious that
the discouraging circumstances of a tight money
market and adverse politics do not operate so
seriously upon the income of railways, as upon
some other branches of industrial enterprise. The
wonder with many shareholders will be, that they
do not get better dividends.
The English funds have been firmer within the
last hour, Consols, which were marked 93,1 1, being
now 93i I. There is, however, scarcely any busi-
ness doing, and the speculators, although taking a
bad view of political affairs, are afraid to operate
boldly for a fall unless the public precede them by
making real sales. The New 3/ per Cents. have
been quoted 95 to /, and the 3 per Cent. Reduced
Annuities 931 to '173. Exchequer bills are 4s. to 7s.
prem., a slight improvement.

Foreign securities have been rather heavy again.
Sardinian Bonds have been marked 90 to 901.
Spanish 3 per Cents. have realised 46k, and the
Deferred 218 to 22. Portuguese 4 per Cents. have
been marked 424. Equador Stock is at 4-g-. Bra-
zilian New Stock is marked 921. Russian 41 per
Cents. are 98g, and Dutch 21 per Cents. 641.
This is " ticket" day in the Railway Share-
market, and the business is principally confined to
arrangements for the settlement. The charge for
carrying over is mostly very light, and in some
cases the arrangement can be made "even." Prices
rule lower in some instances. Great Northern have
declined 10s. to 1/. ; Caledonian to nearly a simi-
lar extent ; North British, and Oxford, and Wol-
verhampton, each 10s. ; and York and North Mid-
land, 15s. to 1/. ; Norfolk are down 11. to 2/. In
Foreign Shares there is scarcely anything doing,
but Luxembourg are rather cheaper, and Northern
of France have receded 10s. to 15s.

Rather more is doing in Mining Shares, but
those of the gold companies have not improved.
Linares are about ss. to 10s., and United Mexican
to :f lower.
The Joint Stock Banks are dull, and the Austra-
lian Agricultural Shares have been down 1/. to 2/.

The current rates of freight by sailing vessels
are, according to the General Weekly Shipping
List, for fine measurement goods, with the accus-
tomed primage in each trade, per ton of 40 feet,
as follows :

LONDON.

Australia—
Adelaide 9os to 100
Hobart Town BO
Launceston
Melbourne or Geelong
Wharves 120 s to 130
Melbourne or Gee-

Gijon 3O
Hambura...l2s to 14s dd wt.
Havannah
Hong Kong BO
lonian Islands 4O
Jamaica 30s to 40
Leer 133 to 15
Leghorn
Lima 5O
Madeira
Madras l2O
Malta 2ss to 30
Malaga 35
Marseilles 3O
Masulipatam
Matalizas 4O
Mauritius 45
Messina
Monte Video
Naples ,
Natal
INew York
Odessa
r Palermo
Rio Janeiro 4O
San Francisco 75s to 100
San Sebastian 35
,Shanghai BO
Seville
Sierra Leone 40s to 50
Smyrna 3O
St. Vincent 3O
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia 35
' Syra
Tarragona
Tobago 3O
Trieste
Trinidad
Valparaiso
Valencia
3650
Venice
thus given :

long 90s to 95
New Zealand ...30s to 100
Portland Bay 120
Port Fairy 120
Swan River 7os to 80
Sydney 80s to 100
Alexandretta
Alexandria . 25s to 30
Algoa Bay
Alicante
Ancona 6O
Antigua
Antwerp
Athens 3O
Barbadoes
Barcelona 4O
Batavia 6O
Beyrout
Bi [boa 35
Bombay
Buenos Ayres 6O
Cadiz 3os to 35
Calcutta
Canton BO
Cape Town, Cape of GOod
Hope 45
Carthagena
Ceylon
Constantinople
Copenhagen
Danube (Galatz and
I brail 4Ol
Demerara 3O
Genoa 3O
Gibraltar l5
The Liverpool rates are

Africa
Alexandria
Antigua
Arica and Islay 7O
Australia—

Lima 7O
Lisbon
Madras 5O
Malaga 35
Malta
Maranham ............ 40s to 45
Manilla 9O
Messina 35
Monte Video ......... 50s to 60
Montreal
Naples
New Orleans. ........ 15s to 20
New York ( payable
abroad) ............ 152 to 20
Oporto ...............208 to 30
Palermo
Panama .... ..... 9O
Paranagua
Pernambuco 35s to 40
Philadelphia ( payable
abroad) 25
Port Natal
Rio de Janeiro 4O
Rio Grande sos to 60
San Francisco 80s to 100
San Sebastian 4O
Santa Martha and Car-
thagena 4O
Savannah 2O
St. Thomas 35
Seville
Singapore 69
Singapore and Penang
Smyrpa.
Terceira
Trinidad ...............35s to 40
Valparaiso
Vera Cruz
le as follows :

Sydney 65
Hobart Town 75
Port Philip (Wharf) lOO

Lisbon
I San Francisco B5
'Stettin
'Sydney, N.S.W 9O
St. Croix 4O
St. John's, Newfoundland 30
St. John's, N.B 3O
Trieste
Valparaiso 50e to GO

LATEST FOREIGN NEWS

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
A telegraphic despatch, dated Vienna, Wednes-
day evening, says :--
"The Russian steamer Pruth has set two Turk-
ish villages on fire, by throwing redhot balls into
them."

A telegraphic despatch from Constantinople,
dated the 19th inst., received via Vienna, says :
" Negotiations on the peace project have com-
menced. The Porte manifests a pacific disposition.
The combined fleets are still at Beycos."
A telegraphic despatch from Vienna, of the 23d,
in the Augsburgh Gazette, states that the corps of
General Dannenberg was advancing towards Lesser
Wallachia.

An occasional correspondent of the Times, writing
from Syra, Dec. 18, says :—" Lord Dudley Stuart
has preceded us to Constantinople, on board the
Liverpool screw steamer. It is said that his Lord-
ship's intention in visiting Constantinople is to
persuade the Sultan to accept the services of the
Polish refugees, it being believed that a general
desertion of Poles serving in Russian regiments
would take place if they were sure of being received
in a corps of their own countrymen on entering
the Turkish territory. It is also reported that his
Lordship advocates a levee of the Christian subjects
of the Porte, a step which would certainly settle
the question as to the Russian or Turkish leaning
of the Rayahs. Desertion to the Russians from
such a corps would perhaps be as frequent as Polish
desertions from Russian regiments."
Letters from Constantinople of .the 15th instant
mention an attempt of the Russians to set fire to
the allied fleet, at the entrance of the Bosphorus.
A fireship was sent, but it was seen from the forts,
and stopped by their artillery. A statement such
as this, which is as yet unconfirmed by Constan-
tinople letters of the same date, must be received
with the utmost caution.
Intelligence has been received from Constanti-
nople that the last note of the Vienna Conference
has' been accepted by the Porte. The propositions
embodied in that document, were submitted to the
Grand Council of the Empire, discussed at much
length, and were pronounced by the majority of
members to be such as might be accepted by Turkey
without dishonour or humiliation. There is no
doubt that the representatives of the Four Powers
employed their best efforts to produce that decision.
It remains to be seen what Russia will do. Will
she, now that there is no longer the shadow of a
doubt as to the good understanding subsisting be-
tween England and France, consent to send her
plenipotentiary to the conference, and to stand on
equal terms with Turkey at the bar of Europe ?
This no one ventures to affirm positively ; but the
same despatch which announces the fact of the
acceptance of the Vienna propositions adds that, if
Russia still maintains her arrogant demands, refuses
to negotiate, and continues hostilities, as at Sinope,
the Powers will, without any delay, assume the
attitude of energy which becomes them, and which,
in fact, however we may soften the phrase, means
nothing more or less in reality than war. The
despatch bringing this important intelligence was
transmitted without loss of time to London.
A letter from Constantinople of the 15th inst.,
states that the captain of the British merchant
vessel sunk at Sinope by the fire of the Russian
ships of war had arrived at Constantinople on board
the Retribution. He immediately addressed a com-
plaint to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe that the Rus-
sian Admiral had not given hiin notice previous to
the engagement, with liberty to withdraw.
Letters received at Constantinople from Teheran,
state that Count Simonich, who was many years
Russian Ambassador to the Court of Persia, and is
now attached to the Foreign-office at St. Petersburg,
is the real director of Persian politics. It was by
his means that the difference was created between
the British Minister and the Persian Government,
although to the last the Russian Minister professed
the greatest friendship for the Government of
Great Britain.
After the battle of Sinope, the following letter,
says the Independance of Brussels, was addressed
by the Russian Admiral Nachimoff to the Austrian
Consul at that place :
"Monsieur le Consul—Permit me to address myself
to you as the only European representative whose flag I
see flying, in order that you may make known to the
authorities of the unfortunate town of Sinope the sole
object of the visit of the imperial fleet to its roadstead.
Raving been informed that the Turkish vessels which
were continually proceeding to the coasts of Abazzia to
stir up the people to revolt against Russia, had taken
refuge at Sinope, I was driven to the deplorable neces-
sity of attacking them, at the risk of causing damage to
the town and the port. I sympathise with the sad fate
of the town and of the inoffensive inhabitants, for
it was only the obstinate defence of the hostile in-
habitants, and particularly the fire of the batteries,
which compelled us to employ shells as the only means
of silencing them more promptly ; but the greater part
of the damage to the town certainly arose from the
burning timbers of the Turkish ships, most of which had
been set fire to by their own crews. As soon as the
enemy's fire permitted, I sent a boat with an officer as
a flag of truce to explain my real intentions to the autho-
rities of the town, but the officer was an hour before he
could find any person. During the whole Of Tuesday
nobody appeared except a few Greeks, who said they
were deputed by their countrymen inhabiting the
place, and who supplicated me to take them on board
the fleet. My instructions being to act only against
Turkish ships, I referred these unfortunate men to the
European Consuls. I now quit the port, and I reckon
on your good offices to make known that the imperial
squadron had no hostile intention against the town or
against the port of Sinope."
A letter from Vienna of the 23d, in the Augs-
burg Gazette, says :—" Several foreign journals
have propagated the intelligence that the Moldo-
Wallachian militia was to be incorporated in the
Russian army. We learn from a certain source that
the General-in-chief has given the two hospodars a
formal assurance that these troops should not be
employed against the enemy, and that they should
be sent back to their own towns if the Turks should
make an incursion. Up to the present time these
troops have only been used as police. The Walla-
chian artillery, however, has not been kept in the
Russian quarter-general, but has been sent to
Braila, where they are placed under the orders of
Russian officers."
The Triester Zeitung learns from Varna that the
campaign for this year appears to have been ter-
minated. On the 29th ult. Omer Pacha was at
Schumla. Several Englishmen had also returned
from the scene of hostilities to Varna, in order to
proceed to Constantinople. Colonel Barkley, a dis-
tinguished officer in the Indian army, had arrived,
but too late to take part in the autumn campaign,
and, with three companions, was likewise remain-
ing at Varna. From the lower Danube, the same
journal also learns that the Turkish garrison at
Belgrade has been strengthened by 200 artillery-
men from Widdin. Under the supposition that
the city might be bombarded by the fortress, Prince
Alexander had proposed to the Senate to remove
part of the public treasury to Kragujevatz. The
measure was approved of by the latter, and
100,000 ducats had been transferred to the above
place.
The following is from Belgrade, Dec. 18 :—" The
population of Belgrade looked forward to this day,
the fête of St. Nicholas, with the greatest anxiety
and curiosity. It had always been the custom on
this day to celebrate the fête-day of the Emperor of
Russia as the powerful protector of Servia. To-
day no signs were visible of the usual festivities.
No salvos of artillery announced the dawn of this,
to every Servian, important day. No military
music resounded, no military parade was held, no
illumination took place in the evening ; the day
passed over in quiet and dulness which in former
years was rejoicing and revelry. • The name of the
protector was not even mentioned in the service in
the cathedral, and it sounded like irony when the
bishop offered up prayers for the welfare of the Most
Gracious Sultan A bd- ul-Medjid and for Prince Alex-
ander. By this political demonstration, the Servian
Government has publicly declared its contempt for
the protectorate of Russia and the view it takes of
the Eastern question. The Russian consul-general,
M. de Muchin, who is living at Semlin, did not
receive a congratulatory visit from any of the Ser-
vian primates. The Prince of Servia is still in the
interior of the country. It is quite evident that
he purposely remained away from Belgrade that
he might not be in the way of this demonstration
on the part of the Servian Government on the fete
days of St. Andrew and St. Nicholas."
From the Montenegrin frontier, the same jour-
nal states that on th 12th nit. Ibrahim Begh
Alai begorick was about to march with 6,000 re-
gular and irregular troops towards Grahova. It
was thought that a body of Russians and Monte-
negrins, stationed at a Greek cloister in the vicinity
of the above place, would make a descent upon the
neighbourhood. Affairs in that principality are
constantly becoming more' and more complicated.
The Presse has intelligence from Jassy, under
date of the 16th inst., which says :
"During the three preceding days large additional
bodies of troops had reached that city, en route for the
Danube. Including the divisions of General Osten-
Sacken's corps, which had previously arrived, their num-
ber could not have been less than 9,000 men. The
Moldavian Government, by commantl of Prince Gorts-
chakoff, had made preparations for additional arrivals

of troops until the middle of January, 1854. The
troops on march for Jassy belong to the Bth and 9th
divisions of the Osten-Sacken corps. An artillery
brigade belongs to every division. Thus far, the
troops had been allowed to halt one day at Jassy.
The men were generally in a robust and healthy con-
dition. The Bth division was to move towards Wal-
lachia, vid Waslin and Berlad ; while the 9th division
would march in the direction of Roman and Bahau.
Both divisions will be concentrated in the districts
of Tehuczer and Putnaer, and then march into Wal-
lachia. The anniversary of the birthday of the Emperor
Nicholas was to be celebrated at Jassy on the 18th inst.
Good health prevailed in both the principalities. The
murrain, however, had proved very destructive, espe
cially in the southern districts of Moldavia. An infantry
brigade, belonging to the Osten•Sacken corps, entered
Lesser Wallachia on the 20th inst."

A letter from Bucharest, under date of the 15th
inst., states that no decisive operations on the side
of the Russians will be commenced until the arri-
val of the different divisions of the Osten-Sacken
corps, which according to the most reliable accounts
cannot take place before the close of January.
A letter in the Medicinische Wochenschrift gives
the effective Russian force in Wallachia at 87,000
men, and states that preparations are being made
for an additional number of 54,000 troops. We
learn also from the same source that hecatombs of
Russian troops are daily falling victims to hard-
ship and disease. , The Russians have already lost
one-tenth of their troops from the above causes.
Another letter from Bucharest, under date of
the 15th init., informs us that two battalions of
riflemen, as also the pontoon trains stationed at
Bucharest, had been ordered to Braila, probably
with the intention of fortifying the several islands
situated in the vicinity of that place. Adjutant-
General Anrep, the cconmander of the advance
guard of the army of occupation, was still at Bu-
charest on the 14th inst. The news that Persia
was about to declare war against Turkey, and that
the combined fleets had not entered the Euxine,
reached Bucharest on the 10th inst., and caused
the greatest joy among the Russians.

THE WAR ON THE DANUBE.
The subjoined is from a letter of the special cor-
respondent of the Times, dated Kalafat, Dec. 6,
and giving an account of a visit to that place
" A busy scene presented itself at the quay, with
timber loading for the new subterranean log bar-
racks, the café filled with Moslems, bargemen, and
soldiers sipping their liquor or smoking their pipes
in taciturnity, while the neighbouring Wallachian
wine shop was crowded with Armenian contractors
or Jew slopsellers in their winter furs, the latter
discussing or bargaining, with wonted loquacity.
Kalafat, rising gradually from the water's edge,
is one of those straggling places that one sees
in these Danubian regions, composed of farm
houses, mercantile establishments, and residences
of small landed proprietors, all scattered hither and
thither—a town without a street, but most of the
houses having a new fresh look, characteristic of
the development of wealth and prosperity in Wal-
lachia that gradually followed the cessation of the
obligation to send corn to Constantinople as their
sole market—a barbarism inconsistent with the
old Turkish principles of free trade ; nor must we
omit to mention the quickening this improving
impetus received from the abolition of our corn
laws, whence the intelligent Wallach expatiates
with pleasure on the name of Sir Robert Peel as
high in the list of his country's benefactors.
" We now ascended the hill, walking for about
half-a-mile among the houses, and then came to
open ground, studded here and there with encamp-
ments, the soldiery actively engaged in completing
the forts, the lines, and the winter-quarters, which
extend over a great space of ground several miles
in circumference on the main land alone. By refe-
rence to the map you will see that the Danube makes
a great bend at Widdin, and, instead of flowing east-
ward, it flows south-west, being turned out of its
course towards the Black Sea by the ridge of heights
extendingnorth-east from Kalafat. On this irregular
plateau have been erected works which astonished
me from their extent and the rapidity of their con-
struction. In the time of the old Turkish wars
there were three forts or redoubts on three hillocks,
but now the whole has been circumvallated with
breastworks supported by 13 earth bastions or re-
doubts, several of them with heavy long-range
artillery, so as to make Kalafat not a mere en-
trenched camp, but a fortress of a very peculiar
character, for there is no part of the simple breast-
work glaoia that is not swept in traverse by the
heavy artillery of the mud forts and bastions.
" But works so extensive cannot be covered ex-
cept by a very large force, for which Kalafat offers
no accommodation. Tents are already out of the
question, and the sudden change of the temperature
has produced many fatal dysenteries. Recourse has
therefore been had to a resource at once economi-
cal and effectual. Spaces equivalent to a long bar-
rack-room have been dug out of the earth and
covered in. Suppose a log house of one storey sunk
to the eaves, the solid ground forming the floors
and walls, and the ridged roof sloping down to
the ground considerably beyond the perpendicular
beams, and you will have an idea of these winter
barracks. The rain and damp are thus carried
away from these earthen walls ; light and ventila-
tion are secured by garret and gable windows,
fires burn to consume the earthy odour, mats act
as arras, and the soldier is comfortable in winter's
cold or summer's heat. I visited one, and found
brick mangals at appointed distances ; a clear space
in the centre for passage, and on either side each
soldier's blanket and kit ; the centre supporting
beams were ranged round with well-burnished
muskets, and the drums at the gables, ready to
beat the alarm and send the artillerymen to the
fort, the infantry to the breastworks, while the
cavalry await the decisive moment to clear the
debouches.

" All these works bear no resemblance to the
inartificial Turkish entrenchments, such as one has
frequently seen elsewhere. All are constructed on
the most modern principles of engineering science ;
their wide extent, and the extraordinary activity
displayed in so short a time, have struck me with
astonishment. I believe that since Torres Vedras,
no lines of so striking a character have risen, as if
by magic in execution, but clearly showing no hurry
in plan or selection. This revolt of the Turks
against their own habitually sluggish nature, this
union of a burst of Asiatic energy with the science
of Europe, compels my mind frequently to recur to
the similar phenomena of the Hungarian war with
the satisfactory difference that the present move-
ment is on the side of legitimate right.
" I certainly do not think that it would be safe
for Russia to pay a visit to Kalafat with less than
50,000 men. But their is an opinion in the camp
that Russia may attempt a coup de main during
the winter.

" On paying a visit to Ahmed Pasha, the Com-
mander-in-Chief, we found him in a tent sunk in
the ground, sitting on a camp divan-bed, and in
front of him a marigal, or charcoal chauffeur, com-
posed of four long bricks. He speaks German
fluently. There is a rayon of villages under direct
power of the Turks occupying Kalafat, who, from
all accounts, are in a very unpleasant position be-
tween Turks and Russians. General Fischback, as
Ahmed Pasha informed me, seizes the elders of
villages as hostages, to prevent their furnishing
supplies, of which Ahmed Pasha complained bit-
terly, as a most unjustifiable proceeding against de-
fenceless villagers on the territory of the Sultan,and
contrary to the usages of war as practised among
civilised nations.

"In consequence of this state of affairs, there
is every week some sharp skirmish between the
Cossacks and the Turkish Irregular Cavalry, in
which some fall on both sides. The Cossacks are,
after all, the flower of the Russian army, from
their shrewdness, courage, and übiquity. But the
Bashi-Bozouk is a fair match for him. Armed with
a rifle, slung over his shoulder, he takes aim and
often hits a man of the opposing horde at full gal-
lop. He then throws behind the rifle, draws a
long scimeter, and in the melee parries with it the
Cossack lance, and, if successful, has all the ad-
vantage from his short weapon.
" The scientific General at Kalafat is Ahmed
Pasha ; the fighting Gene,ral is Ismael Pasha, a
man of the most determined bravery and great
natural sagacity in military matters, having made
successively the campaigns of 1828-9, those of Me-
hemet Ali in Syria, from Nezib to Acre, of Kur-
distan, of the revolts in Albania and Bosnia, and
lastly of Montenegro. He looks every inch a sol-
dier—nor must we forget to mention, in concluding
our notice on Kalafat, the valuable assistance
which the army there has received from the order
and fertility of resource Sami Pasha has shown in
bringing up and getting over the materials requi-
site for these important works."