The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-28 00:00:00

TILE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1854

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
i) 4,7 --Vertin- 45 minotfter 8 E.-. ening 18 rain.ftft. 9
To-';oft w Mornil.g 51 rain.arta- 9 Y&,--Falr.:.'L 23 10

Dec. 28.
THE WEATHER.--91111 On")
IaIIII2IOIIETEB, IN THZ SHADE.
43 highest since noon yesterday.
35—lowest this morning and during the night.
40 —this day, at noon.
BABAYSISTICB, 30'48—rising rapidly.
WTSD, N.W.—Light breeze, with fine frosty weather.
We had a slight fall of snow this morning.

flf,,

ceptible in the earlier stages, are being steadily
though slowly remedied, and we can look forward
confidently to the Rltimate capture of the Russian
stronghold, and with it the overthrow of the
Russian power in the Euxine.

AOMEI3. PACHA is preparing to move with from
30,000 to 35,000 of the gallant veterans-who
proved their efficiency last year in the Princi-
palities and on the line of the Danube. Whether
he will proceed to Balaklava, to Eupatoria, or to
Perekop is not at present known. His presence,
however useful it might be, is not urgently re- '
quired at the former locality. Our troops have
shown that they are able to hold their own, and
that they can withstand all assaults from the out-
side as well as all sorties by the garrison. If the
Turkish cohorts landed at Eupatoria they might
create a diversion in the rear, and place OSTEN-
SACKEYS corps between two fires, and thus get
iid of their opposition, and enable the besiegers
to complete their arrangements for the reduction
of the fortress. On the other hand, the seizure
and garrisoning of Perekop—a step that ought
long since to have been taken, if sufficient force
could have been mustered for the purpose—
would not only prevent the arrival of
new auxiliaries and new supplies, but
it would shut in those already there like rats in
a trap until they should surrender themselves
unconditionally to the ♦ictorious Allies. With
the complete and unopposed command of the sea,
with the power of landing the personnel or mate-
riel of war at any point on the coast of the

peninsula, we should very speedily have
matters all our own way. We have hitherto
neglected, or, at least, not adequately availed
ourselves of, the means at our disposAl. There
is, however, if we are to credit the advo-
cates and eulogisers of the Austrian Alliance, no
reason for the retention of troops for the protec-
tion of the Principalities, or the Turkish territo-
ries, properly so called. All that is guaranteed
by Austria. And even without such a guarantee
we should suppose that Russia had quite enough
to do to protect its own territories without attack-
ing others. With vigour and determination
the matter may be brought to a speedy close ;
and we earnestly hope that these indispensable
qualities will not be wanting in the present crisis.

LATEST NEWS.

THE CRIMEA.

VIENNA, WEDNESDAY.
On the 17th Omer Pacha left Varna for Con-

s tan tinople.

On the 15th General Osten-Sacken reconnoitred

in force, and a skirmish is said to have taken
place near the ruins of Inkerman.
A despatch from Sebastopol of the 14th an-
nounces that on the 11th the Russians attacked
the French outposts, and gained possession of
three mortars, but were repulsed with the loss of

50 men.

It is also stated that Prince Men9chikoff is ill,
and that Osten-Sacken exercises the command
during the sickness of the Commander-in-Chief.
A despatch from Varna of the 17th states that
5,000 Turks had embarked for the Crimea.

The Duke of Brabant visited Lord Westmore-
land yesterday. His lordship's health continues

to improve.

Yesterday Prince Gortschakoff presented a
note which he had received from St. Petersburg
to Count Buol. It is believed to be unsatisfac-
tory, but is not the final reply of Russia.

Intelligence has reached Marseilles from Con
stantinople, dated the 16th.

In a sortie made by the Russians on the 12th
hey had 700 men put hors de combat.
Between the 13th and the 20th 8,000 French

and English troops passed by Malta on their way

to the Crimea.

BERLIN, DEC. 25.

The Correspondance says there is a probability
that the enrolment of German troops for foreign
countries will be forbidden, seeing that, by Article
XVIII. of the Act of the German Federation, it
is expressly forbidden to German subjects to enter
into the military service of Foreign States:

FRAN CE.
THE NEW LOAN.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING.

The Legislative Corps has held its first sitting.
-It met to-day at two o'clock ; Count de Morny,
the president, in the chair. Count Murat, the
Marquis de Chaumont-Quitry, M. Dalloze, and
the Duke de Tarente, were appointed to act as
secretaries. The president pronounced an ad-
dress on the occasion of his taking the chair in
the midst of the warmest acclamations of the
Assembly. The bureaux were appointed by lot.
A letter, sent to the president since the last ses-
sion, was then read, in which M. de Lorinet de-
clares that he resigns his functions as deputy for
the department of the Ain. Leave of absence was
accorded to MM. Cabias, Sapey, Varin, d'Anvelle,
and Crosnier. A communication was made in the
name of the Government by M. de Parrieu, pre-
sident of section of the Council of State, and a
bill presented to authorise the Minister of Finance
to contract a loan of 500,000,000 f. The expose
des motifs of this measure was read amidst the
acclamations of the Assembly. M. Roullert-Du-
gage proposed that the members should at once
proceed to the bureaux and exlmine the bill rela-
tive to the loan. This proposition being agreed to,
the members at once withdrew to organise their
bureaux, and to examine the bill in question. The
public sitting then terminated. In the address
which Count de Morny made to the Assembly, on
the occasion of his taking the chair as presi-
dent of the Legislative Corps, after saying how
much he needed the kind co-operation of his col-
leagues to enable him to perform his duty with
efficiency, he observed, that to the violent debates
which had marked the proceedings of former assem-
blies had succeedsd dia.:of:maim:is of a perfectly calm
and polite character. -As used the.e woras
tionally, because they were of high political im-
portance ; since the present mode of transacting
the publio business was an evident proof of the
accord which existed between the great powers of
the State, and which had had the effect of giving
to the head of the State the most complete liberty
of action, and of allowing him to perform such
great things. That accord had also enabled him
to enter into a sincere alliance with the two greatest
Powers in Europe, and to enjoy the confidence of
Germany. The honourable gentleman also in the
course of his address passed a handsome compli-
ment to M. Billault, his predecessor, for the manner
in which he had always performed his duty.
Count de Morny hats taken up his residence at
the President's palace adjoining that of the Legis-
lative Corps.
HALF-PAST SEVEN.—The French Government
has this day received, by way of Bucharest, news
from the Crimea, dated the 18th. It is in every
respect satisfactory. The troops continue to be
full of ardour. The reinforcements continue to
arrive in great numbers, and establish themselves
with perfect order in the encampments set aside
for them.
Eupatoria is strongly guarded. It is now in-
sured not only against a coup de main, but also
against all the attacks that the Russians might
attempt to make against it.

BOURSE, DEC. 26.—CLOSING PRICES.
Cash. fr. c. Rad of Month.
4i per Cents 93 —f. —e.
3 per Cents 66 85 66 65
Credit Mobilier 730 Roman
Credit Foncier 545 Austrian . ............
Belgian Fives — Spanish Threes.....
Piedmoutese B6 50 Home Debt .........

RAILWAYS-FOR CASH.

fr. c. fr. C.
Orleans ........ ...... 1,137 50 Lyons
... 972 50
Western 630 Rouen .................. 982 50
Cette
Mediterranean B4O Havre 530
Northern

THE PRINCIPALITIES.
OMER PACHA'S DEPARTURE FROM BU

CH AREST.

BUCHAREST, Dec. 12.—Yesterday, while rain
was falling in torrents, Omer Pacha set out for
Shumla and Varna with his staff. His household
follows, and it is well understood that we shall not
see him again for a long while. He goes with
30,000 or 35,000 men to the Crimea, but to what
point of the Peninsula is to us unknown.
The semi-official organ of the Government here
published a few days ago the following order
" Considering that in consequence of the note of Omer
Pacha, Generalissimo of the Otto Man armies, an am-
nesty has been accorded to every one compromised in
these latter times; that several have appreciated that
oblivion of the past, but that other; have followed the
enemy, and have not since returned—we submit this
matter to the deliberation of the extraordinary council
of the administration, and we order that the said indi-
viduals shall be forbidden to return to their country.--
STIBBE!."

TURKEY.

CONSTANTINOPLE, DEC. 11

The following is the substance of a despatch from
General Canrobert, dated Bth inst. :—The General
demands of his embassy to represent to the Porte
the absolute necessity of providing regularly the
supplies of the Turkish troops, whose numbers are
daily increasing by the arrival of reinforcements
from Varna. The ardour, enthusiasm, and con-
fidence of the allied armies are displayed in glow-
ing colours. Their constancy under so many trials
and hardships, the General remarks, merits the
most honourable mention, and is the surest pledge
of success in a struggle whiek has now assumed
such enormous proportions. Were the British
force as advanced as the French in respect to its
works, and more especially in the renewal of the
batteries destined to operate on the place, General
Canrobert hoped to re-open the fire in a couple of
days.

to business than he does at the present moment,
working daily for sixteen hours, for he knows very
s,ll that he has 1 criu to rc:y c.,u, and that 'ais
orders, however exigent, are never executed, unless
he sees them done himself. The whole system of
Russian bureaucracy is so rotten that no confidence
can be placed in anybody, and no one is more con-
versant with this fact than the Emperor himself.
Count Nesselrode is still in favour, and is closeted
with his royal master for several hours every day.
The general opinion here is that a war with all
Europe is inevitable, although a part of the nobles
affect to believe that Austria will never be brought
to draw her sword against Russia, and doubts are
beginning to be seriously entertained whether it
will be possible even for Prussia and the States of
Germany to maintain any longer their one-sided
neutrality.
The last accounts from the Crimea are anything
but encouraging. The army is decimated by disease,
provisions are getting short, and in the present
state of the roads there is no mode of sending sup-
plies. Great fears are entertained that Sebastopol
will not be able to hold out much longer, and
Mensehikoff's flaming despatches, with his poetical
description of brilliant attacks and successful sor-
ties, with the stereotype loss of " one man killed
and wounded," fail to inspire general belief any

longer.
It is said that the Emperor has sent for the
venerable Field Marshal Prince Paskiewitch from
Warsaw to consult with him on the best means of
defending the frontiers on the Austrian line, and
to concert measures for certain contingencies that
may be shortly expected in that quarter.
That the nobility and mercantile classes devoutly
wish for peace cannot be doubted for a moment,
however unwilling they may be to clothe in words
such an unpatriotic sentiment. It is only the pea-
sants who still entertain any enthusiasm for the
Czar. The new levy to be raised in March of ten
men in every 1,000 inhabitants will drain the
population of nearly a million of men—on paper ;
for nobody seriously believes the possibility of
raising such an army by an imperial ukase, it being
well known that the Czar must first raise—the
wind. _ _ _

The ukase, which is dated Gatschina, Ist (13th)
December, decrees that the conscription is to have
force in the eastern half of the empire, or, in other
words amongst, the barbarous tribes of Asiatic
Russia. The levy is to commence on the 15th
February, and to be finished by the middle of
March. The conscripts are to have, moreover, the
supreme gratification of paying for their uniforms
and outfits out of their own pockets, and the sums
charged to each recruit are not to exceed the value
paid by the commissariat department to the con-
tractors, viz., 10 silver roubles, 30 copecks (about
11. 10s.) per head; the Czar magnanimously re-
nouncing all idea of making any pecuniary profit
on the transaction—the logical inference to be
drawn from which is, that in other cases he does
make a profit.

PRUSSIA.

BERLIN, DEC. 24.

Every thought of every member of the political
world here, not thoroughly engrossed by the ap-
proaching family festivities of Christmas, is directed
towards London, in anxious expectation of what
Herr von Usedom will learn of our Cabinet's inten-
tions. The conviction hero seems very strong, that
if the views of the Western Powers do not very far
exceed those limits which Prussian views set to
the scope of the present war, the King will decide
upon casting his lot with them.
The accounts that reach here from Russian Po-
land mention that the 12th serial levy is being car-
ried on with equal energy and cruelty, and that, at
the same time, the lower classes of the population
are compelled to the most arduous labours for the
purpose of conveying to the warehouses and arsenals
the immense stores of provender and provisions of
all sorts that the upper classes have been forced to
contribute. The young and operative generation is
confiscated to the Emperor's military wants ; the
necessary edibles are laid under embargo to meet
the wants of the Commissariat, and the families
who are thus deprived of their effective members
are compelled to give their own services and those
of their teams to convey their lost treasures to the
neighbouring citadels. Their payment they re-
ceive in paper, to come due three days after con-
venient ; their taxes must be paid in hard cash.
Under the circumstances the poor people cannot
even afford the luxury of a hearty curse on their
oppressors, for anything like grumbling renders
them liable to personal pains and penalties, con-
fiscation of goods and chattels, and to being handed
over to the labour gangs. Warsaw is being turned
into
into antirsitm-oplrmerafibwourlc
riettiheakacestaeertapoi
fortifications.
army fna nw.u2dn
oaLenaroc
ismino areieat
environs
goronsstwaanrtry
n
is posted between Bialogon and Samsonow, and
another between Keilei and Radom. It is repre-
sented as highly improbable, that the Emperor,
with 50,000 (?) men on the Austrian frontier, will
consent to worse conditions than those which
Prince Gortschakoff was authorised to accept in
Vienna ; and some voices go so far as to assert that
it would very much interfere with Russian plans
aid wishes if Europe was to take Russia at her
word. In some correspondences we find that Aus-
tria's signature of the treaty by no means surprised
politicians in Russia ; it had been looked forward
to a long time as probable or possible, but is con-
sidered there to be an empty demonstration. "The
capture of Sebastopol and the burning of the fleet
will not, it is said, alter the position a hair's-
breadth, for still peace cannot be concluded with-
out Russia's consent."

organised whole, to be kept together and strengthened
by one joint constitution,
"Ministers nifwe the fillies:. contideLee in the patrifit.
ism and public spirit of the Diet, and rely upon their
cooperation in effecting the above desirable results,
and upon these grounds have accepted the responsible
duties of office offered from the Sovereign.
" With respect to our foreign policy we may add that,
in direct concurrence with the sentiments entertained on

this subject by the King, we do not intend to propose
any change or modification."
The programme was received in both houses with
great acclamation.
It will be remembered that about a month before

the dismissal of the late ministers, a patriotic mem-
ber of the Volksthiug, Herr Tutein, proposed to
impeach them for the unconstitutional edict of the
26th July, and also for unwarrantably altering
the budget after its final adoption by the house.
The impeachment was really never made, but the
question was put and carried. It remains now to
be seen whether it will really be executed. The
new ministers are unwilling to take so extreme a
step against their predecessors, but there is a strong
party in the house, at the head of which is Bishop
Monrad, who earnestly wish to see them impeached
and severely punished, as a warning to all future
ministers not to attempt to tamper with the con-
stitution.
The Chambers will be prorogued most likely to-
morrow for the holidays, and they will not re-open
till the 4th January.

THE BALTIC.
EFFECTS OF THE BLOCKADE.

TILSIT, Dec. 19.—Our transit trade has never
before been so important as this year, exclusively
in consequenceof the blockade of the Russian ports.
Although the shor`,. but severe frost in November
threatened to put an early end to our navigation,
the late mild weather has again opened the com-
munication with the interior of Russia, and
several hundred loaded vessels which were
frozen up in the ice have been able to proceed
to their destination. From the opening of the
navigation at the end of April, down to the close
of the season by the early setting in of tho frost,
' no lees than 2,223 loaded vessels and other river
ships, besides 1,036 rafts of timber, passed the
Russian frontier station of Schmaleningken, bring-
ing the following goods :-364,964 barrels of rape
and linseed, 403,000 cwt. tallow, 16,300 cwt.
copper, 87,000 cwt. cordage, 11,160 cwt. bristles,
70,000 cwt. rags, 3,680 cwt. sailcloth, 1,180 cwt.
oil, 7,987 cwt. mats, 6,090 cwt. raw hides, 5,100
cwt. tar, 3,600 cwt. feathers, 400 cwt. potash,
555,012 timbers, 21,065 oak timbers for ship-
building, and 2,136 lasts pipestaves.
All these goods were destined for Memel, whence

they were transshipped to England, and the vessels
returned to Russia freighted with valuable cargoes
of colonial produce, British manufactured goods,
salt, wine, and other articles of consumption.

Letters from Tuscany, in the Corriere Mercan-
tile of Genoa, positively announce that the Aus-
trian troops are to evacuate the Grand Duchy in
the course of next month.

The Wanderer of Vienna of the 23d says :—A
letter from Tcharakou states that there has been a
sanguinary engagement between the Russians and
a battalion of Tunis infantry, which was making
a reconnaissance. The latter had the advantage."

The Mahmoodeyek canal, which connects Alex-
andria with the Nile, is to be closed after next
January, for the purpose of being deepened.
Wheat keeps up to 50s. ; beans, 403. per quarter,
free on board. Freights dull at ss. 6d. per quar-
ter. Exchange on London, 98 piastres per pound
sterling.
The accounts received in high and official quar-
ters from St. Petersburg, relative to the Empress's
health, are calculated to inspire most set ious an x-
iei ies, so serious indeed to awaken apprehensions
of a gradual if not a speedy decline. Should these
sinister apprehensions be realised, as feared, within
the next six weeks or two months, the Imperial
family will not only be smitten in its dearest and
most heartfelt affections, but the people of Russia
will be deprived of the benevolent and maternal
solicitude of a guardian who has endeared herself
to all classes, and devoted her whole Imperial life
to befriend and succour all those who stood in need
of her sheltering advocacy or protection. The vir-
tues which distinguish the princesses of the house
of Hohenzollern never shone forth more conspi-
cuously than in the illustrious daughter of Frederick
William 111.