The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-29 00:00:00

At 4.IiKET N E &—' 'fills DAY

CORN EXCHANGE.
The prenent week's arrivals of English wheat: have been
on a very moderate scale, and the show of samples here
to-day was limited. Fine white qualities sold 'steadily at
fully last week's prices; but red parcels were dull, at barely
late rates.

With foreign wheat we were rather scantily supplied.
The amount of business doing in all kinds was rery mode.
rate. In prices, however, we have no clangs tie notice.
Barley, the supply of which was but moderate, moved
off slowly on former terms.
The malt trade was heavy at barely previous s ates.
We had a good demand for oats, and sound heavy cern
was rather dearer.
Beans, peas, and flour were slow in sale.
ARRIVALS THIS WHEN.
Barley. Malt.
1,320 3,850-

Oatsc. j Flour.
856 1 1,170
2,91 q
0,25 6 1 260 aks.
3000 brls.
11(1E PRICES OF BRITISH CORN
29, 1854, made up from the Reiturns of tie
per Imperial Quarter.
WUEAT. BAILLTY. OATS. I KM 'BANS. 1 PTAs.
722 41 33s lid 27s 4d , 46s 03 i 47s 101 / 46s lid
THE SIX WEEKS' AVERAGE.
WHEAT. I BARLEY. OATS. RYE. BEANS. PEAS.
73s Id 84s lid 28s 6d 45s Id 49s 3cL 7 48s 101
DUTIES ON FOREIGN CORN.

English ..
Irish ....
Foreign ..

Wheat.
2,310

2,79)

GENE]
For the weel

11.11; AYE]
A ended De

WHEAT. I BARLEY. I OATS. -1
RYE. I BEANS. I PHI.
18 Od la Od Od 04 Od Od
QUANTITIES OF GRAIN SOLD LAST WFrEFC.
Wheat, 118,798; Barley, 115,744; Oats, 21..251; Rye, 1147 ; Beans,

6,727; Peits, 2,945 ivartera.

SMITHFIELD.
To-day's market was fairly supplied with beasts in but
middling condition. The beef trade ruled am newhat ac-
tive, and, in some instances, the primest Seats realised
fis 4d per Sibs. Amongst the stock were 210 oxen from
Spain. We had about an average supply or sheep on
offer. The mutton trade was firm, and Menxlay's cur-
rency was fully supported. Calves, the suppls of which
was very limited, advanced 4d per slbs. Pigs were some-
what firmer.

Mulch cowa realised 141. 10i to 191 10e, inohr,diag their
mall calf.

Per Bibs to sink the ofrals.
s. d. s. d.
Inferior Beast 5....3 6to 3 8
Second quality..... 3 10 4 6
Prime largo oa•en 4 8 410
Prime Scots, di e. 5 0 5 2
Inferior Sheep ...3 8 3
Second quality _4 0 4 4
Prime crse.-wil,td.4 6 410

s. d. s
Prime Southdown 5 0 5 2
Large crse. calves 4 6 5 4
Prime small d 0... 5 6 6 0
Large hogs 3 2 4 0
Small porkers 4 2 4 6
SueklingcalVcs ..22 0 29
IQuarter old pigs 21 0 27 0

TOTAL 11UPPLI.

Beasts •••• • • ........ •• .. 1,020
Sheep .• ••• • • • 6,209
... • .. • • 69
Pigs .. • ..• ••• • •• 300

THE WAR IN THE CRIMEA.

( Front the Constitutionncl.)

The Russian army Las this advantage over those of •
the allies, that it acts in its own country, its soldiers are
accustomed to the climate, and its generals and com-
missariat are acquainted with the ground and the re-
sources to be derived from it ; but, OH the other hand,
the Black Sea is closed to the Russian army by our
fleets, and the Sea of Azoff and the land road only are
open to it to procure all the supplies which it cannot
find on the soil itself. The steppes, which are uninha-
bitable in the winter, and only practicable by the road
which leads from Perekop to Simpheropol, form two thirds
of the Crimea ; the other third is a mountainous region.
Prince Menschikoff has established himself from Simphe-
ropol, Kara-sou-Bazar, and Bakshi-Serai to the west
coast, a radius of about 25 leagues. The ordinary
ration of the Russian soldier is composed of bread,
groats, and brandy, to which in war is added meat.
This latter is the only thing that the Crimea can
supply. The oxen and sheep amply supply the wants
of the Russian army, but the corn, brandy, and other
supplies are drawn from Nikolairf, Kherson, and
Taganrog, where large depots have been for some time
formed either by the navigation of the Dnieper, which
traverses very rich provinces, or from Odessa. Niko-
laief and Kherson now serve as the bases of the supplies
of the Russian army, and if they were destroyed
Prince Menschikoff would find himself in a very embar-
rassed position. The transport of supplies is attended
with great difficulty in a country where no regular esta-
blishments for that purpose exist. The roads are very
bad, although not quite impracticable. The Russian
Government has collected together by requisition a great
number of vehicles, and by this means secured the ser-
vice, notwithstanding the season, the rain, the cold, and
those dreadful snow storms which sometimes sweep away
whole flocks and entire convoys. Many carriages are
lost, and many men perish on the road, but the eon-
voys succeed each other without interruption, and
traverse the isthmus of Perekop, by which road
provisions, reinforcements, and ammunition must come.
The sea of Azoff being free, numerous cargoes are
also despatched from Taganrog, Berdianck, and Ma-
rianpol, and which, after being landed at Kertch,
are sent on by the road which leads from that port to
Simpheropol. If our accounts are, therefore, as we believe
them to be, correct, the Russians are not in want of pro-
visions, or, at least, it is clear that the Russian Govern-
ment has taken every means for securing a supply for
them. The troops live badly, but they do live. Not one
of our soldiers could eat the black bread, and the half-
rotten biscuit that is served out to the Russians, whose
stomachs, accustomed to misery, can receive and digest it.
The real cause of the sufferings of their army and of the
numerous deaths is the want of shelter and clothing suit-
ablefor the winter; and the deaths are numerous from the
want of propercare and remedies in illness, notwithstand-
ing the enormous sums expended by the Government for
that purpose. The troops composing the reinforcemer.ts
sent to Prince Mensehikoff arrived without any baggage.
They were compelled to leave everything behind thorn, in
order to travel quicker. None of the workmen, who
generally accompany every regiment, could follow them.
They are therefore without any camp equipage, and ex-
posed to all those sudden changes in the temperature,
and to those torrential rains to which generally succeed
hurricanes of wind and violent snow storms. It is on
these occasions that the resignation of the soldiers is truly
admirable, it might be almost said that they regard suffer-
ing as their lot on earth. Never is there a murmurheard ;
they pray to the image of the Virgin, and suffer in
silence, or at times begin one of those interminable and
melancholy songs by the aid of which they, as it were,
lull their grief. The want of medical men and of medi-
cine for the sick is the greatest suffering now experienced
by the Russian army. It is impossible to convey an
idea of the state of abandonment to which the sick are
reduced ; to enter the hospital is almost synonymous
to entering the grave. Some German medical men,
who are not without skill, form part of the medical
staff, but all their efforts are powerless. Either they
want resources, and are deprived of tiro most neces-
sary articles, or their good will is checked by the very
men who are charged with the surveillance of the depart-
ment. The intendants and sub-intendants are charged
in Russia to provide for all the wants of the army both
in times of war and peace ; but far from intimating the
andstsoof t
htheerc ici h
,ayt, ttahiery,morewhich
dporobsioty
muche sh, oo tneodunie.
frequently set an example of the most scandalous cor-
ruption. They are in this particular but too wed
seconded by the commanding officers of regiments, who
themselves seek to gain all they can out of the
sums paid to them for the support of their
men. The picture we have just drawn is not exag-
gerated, and is founded on certain data. Thus, ad-
mitting that Prince Mensehikoff has at this moment the
provisions necessary for his army, the occupation of
Perekop, and the burning of Nioolaief or Kherson, be-
fore the Dnieper and the swamps at its mouth are frozen
up, would be sufficient to cause him the greatest embar-
rassment. This army has, besides, numerous other
causes for weakening it ; every day the chasms in its
ranks increase, while reinforcements only come up with
great difficulty, and if they do arrive are in very bad
condition, for during winter the cold is too severe, the
days too short, and the snow storms frequently of too
long duration for regiments on the march not to suffer.

THE NEW FRENCH LOAN.

The following is the bill laid before the Legisla-
tive Corps, authorising the Minister of Finances
to contraot a loan of 500 million francs :

" EXPOSE MS MOTIFS.

"Gentlemen,—When at the commencement of the
present year France thought it her duty to engage in a
war required for the defence of a friendly Power, and the
maintenance of the equilibrium of Europe, the Govern-
ment demanded at the same time the material support
necessary to sustain a great struggle, and the moral sup-
port which must result to it from the assent of the coun-
try expressed through you.
"You have nobly answered to the appeal by unani-
mously voting a loan proportioned to the necessities and
previsions of the moment. The resources obtained
by that means have been consecrated to the object for
which they were created. The produce of the emission
of Rentes authorised by your deliberation of the 7th
March has been even more than absorbed by the deve-
lopment given to our forces by land and sea, and by the
expenses of a war carried out on distant shares hitherto
unknown to the grtatest flight of our arms.
"The courage of cur soldiers and of our allies has
added new pages to our victories.
" Against an enemy, fora long time past prepared for
the struggle, and attacked in the very heart of his power
in the Black Sea, the most glorious feats of arms have
not yet terminated the war. Persevering efforts are
imposed on the two Great Powers of the West, if they
wish to obtain the triumph necessary for the accom-
plishment of this object, the solid and definitive re-
establishment of European peace. These genereus
efforts for thu success of a great cause the Government
of the Emperor expects with confidenee from your
patriotism.
" Taking into consideration the expenses actually
accomplished, and the military eventualities of the year
1855, it demands from you to carry to 500 millions
the produce to be realised by a new loan. Less
' resources will not be sufficient to support in the East
a numerous army, and to meet all the necessities of the '
struggle.
" You will think, no doubt, as we do, that the ex-
penses of the war in the East ought to be especially
raised by a loan. Whaterer may be the present sacri-
fices imposed by circumstances, the Government of the
Emperor, in stopping an ambition which would every
day fortify and extend itself, spares to a not distant
future sacrifices which we are convinced would have been
still greater.
"At the same time that we demand in the new law
I the latitude of eiscntiou which you have accorded to it
in the former operation, the Emperor has not hesitated
to tell you beforehand Lis idea as to the mode which lie
thinks most opportune, and which has been recently
practised with too much success not to be attempted
again.
" The mode of loan by national subscription was at
your last session unknown or forgotten. It has been
justified in France by a striking trial, and already imi-
tated in other countries.
" Without excluding any other mode the Government
has been anxious to inform yon in advance of the sense
in which it intends making use of the faculty with which
you will doubtless invest it, by reproducing the terms of
the bill accepted by you in your last session.
"Li voting patriotically the resources for which the
Government applies to you, you will teach, gentlemen,
our enemies, as our allies—you will inform Europe, whose
sympathies accompany us, of the limn resolution of the
French Government and nation to carry on with energy
the war which they have undertaken.
"And our patient, our heroic army, already proud of
the testimonies of gratitude which have emanated from
a friendly nation, and highly recompensed by the eulo-
giums of the Emperor, will also receive from the legis-
lative body of France those encouragements which carry
with them the means of continuing the course of victory,
and causing it to bear proper fruit.
(Signed) " EsQuirtou DE PARIEU, President
of the Section of Finance at the
Council of State.
" AD. VUITRY.
" E. BOINVILLIERS."

"BILL TO AUTHORISE THE MINISTER OF FINANCE TO CON

TRACT A LOIN OF 500 MILLIONS OF FRANCS.
" Art. 1. The Minister of Finance is authorised to
have inscribed on the great book of the public debt the
amount of Rentes necessary to produce, at the rate of
the negotiation, 500 millions of francs.
" These Rentes shall be alienated in such a manner as
to rate and conditions as shall best conciliate the interests
of tEe Treasury, with facility of negotiation.
" A sinking fund of one-hundredth part of the nominal
capital of the Rentes created in virtue of the preceding
authorisation, shall be added to the donation of the
Caisse d'Atoortissement.
" Art. 2. The sum raised by the loan shall be applied,
under the title of extraordinary resource, to the warts of
tho year in which it shall be raised.
" This bill has been deliberated on and adopted by
the Council of State, in the sitting of December 27,
1854."

lIIPORTATION OP FLAX.—From a return of the House
of Commons, lately issued, it appears that in 1853 the
flax and tow or codilla of hemp and flax imported into
the United Kingdom amounted to 1,902,447 cwts., of
which 1,294,827 cwts. were from Russia; and that the
hemp undressed amounted to 1,218,770 cwts., of which
806,396 cwts. were from Russia.

TEE RUSSIAN 1110-EMENTS IN INDIA.

The following are extracts from a Calcutta letter,
dated Nov. 18 :

"The prominent event of the fortnight is the com-
mencement of a friendly communication with Post Ma-
homed, the ruler of Aflghanistan, who holds Cabot,
which has often been designated the key of India. To
understand the nature and importance of this event, it
is necessary to glance for a moment at the progress, not
so much of the Russian arms, as of Russian influence, to
the west of the Indus. It has often been surmised that
the Russians bad an intention of marching an army to
the banks of the Indus for the invasion and con-
quest
of India, but the probability of any such move-
ment is exceedingly remote, and of the failure of it
there can be no doubt whatever. If 100,000 men
were to start from the Russian station nearest to
India it is certain that not snore than one-fifth of
that number could reach the Indus ; and they would
not be in a condition to encounter the fresh and well.
equipped army of four or five times that number with
which we should meet them. The Russians cannot
transport their commissariat 1,00 miles where there are
no roads. At the same time it is perfectly palpable that
Russia has been gradually working her way down to our
frontier, never making a startling move, but steadily
advancing her pawns. Her object is to establish her
paramount influence throughout the various tribes of
Central Asia, to inspire them with awe of her power,
and to impress on their minds that the Russians arc a far
morn powerful nation than the English, though they
have conquered Hindostan. The Russians are anxious
to constitute themselves the arbiters of Central Asia ;
and, when this preponderating influence has once been
thoroughly established, there will be a hundred ways of
using it to our disadvantage, which will at once occur to
the mind. Not the least annoying result of these ad-
vances is the feverish excitement it creates in India,
both in our own territories and among our native allies.
" These intrigues are not of yesterday. They have
been steadily pursued for the last 20 years, but they
have been redoubled since the commencement of hostili-
ties. Russian emissaries are now at work with all the
chiefs to whom they can gain access, and Central Asia
is now agitated beyond all former example by the ex-
pectation which is held out of the portentous advance of
the great Russ, the antagonist of England. It is, how-
ever, a well ascertained fact that the report of the advance
of Russian troops upon Khiva is fabulous. Russia has
not a soldier in the neighbourhood of the Oxus. The
only Russian troops which have advanced up that
river are, I believe, at Ark Musjeed, and they do
not exceed 2,000 men, supported by not more than
six pieces of artillery. The advances which Russia
is thus snaking towards our own north-west frontier
have given no alarm to the Government of India, but
they have pointed out the importance of • forming
alliances with the independent chiefs across the Indus,
and thus cresting a barrier to the encroachments of
Russian intrigue.
"The Delhi Gazette comments on the latest accounts
from the north of the Hindu Koosh as follows :
" 'As to Russophobia, there is still a rational one,
and the question may be thus summed up. The fear of
being laughed at for suspecting Russia of any design on
the British possessions in India is the form which Russo-
phobia takes among us at the present day. This reaction
against the wild, because timid, policy which led us
into the Affgban war, is only natural. But, like every
other violent reaction, it is liable to run into extremes.
" Napoleon wrote to his brother Joseph (as appears
from his lately published correspondence) that Russia
was too far off ever to give bins any concern ; and yet
we all know how the history of a few subsequent years
forced on him the conviction that there were but two
alternatives for Europe, to become either Republican or
Cossack. So here in India have we been accustomed
to believe that Russia was 'too far eft' ever to disturb
our peace. And yet there is evidence, hardly now to be
gainsayed, that liussiais rapidly becoming possessed of
the s hole Doab of the Jaxartee and the Oxus, a country
which for 10 centuries of history and 20 more of tradi-
tion has supplied India with invaders. The head-quar-
ters of a Russian force, how large or finial that force is
of little moment, are now established within 500 miles
of our North west Frontisr.'

" The object of the Czar is evidently to comical
Persia to join him, and then to effect a junction be-
tween the Ru•,sian forco Kokau and the Persian
army at Merw or Merve. This junction would place
the resources of Bokhara, Persia, and Affghanistan at
his disposal, and tiereby render him paramount in all
the countries between the C:tsp;an and the Indus. Ti,e
immediate advantages that Russia would obtain would
he the co-operation of a Persian ariuy against the Turks
in Armenia, and the power of harassing our Indian
army by stirring up and uniting against us the tribes
of the Indus frontier, who are said in the Punjaub re-
port to be able to bring at least 100,000 fighting men
into the field. It is true that these are altogether un-
able to cope with our regular troops in the plains, but
by a well-organised system of incessant inroads into
our territories they would compel us to keep up a very
much larger force on the frontier than is necessary at
present."

" The Nepaulese Cabinet is increasing its military
establishment to each an extent as to enforce the neces-
i ,city 43,..xonzatiing oltplonatione. Tho Minister pro-
fessoe the most cordial friendship for the British Go-
vernment, and replies that the armies are intended for
an expedition against Lassa ; but there is some reason
to suspect that these armaments have some connection
with the progress of Russian intrigues.
"You will notice a great outcry in the local journals
regarding the annexation of Nagpore, and the confisca-
tion of the Crown jewels, which has been represented as
nearly, if net altogether, equal in atrocity to the plunder
of the Begums of Oude, so celebrated in the annals of
British eloquence. This letter must net be too elabo- '
rate, and I must reserve all particulars for my next
communication. Meanwhile, it may be sufficient to
state that there was absolutely no heir whatever, natu-
ral or adopted, to that throne, and that our Govern-
ment, finding a sum of about 700,0001. in the Rajah's
treasury, in money and jewel, has waived all claim to
this property, and declared that it shall not be alien-
ated from the family. The object of the sequestration,
which is so loudly reprobated, was simply to prevent its
falling into the hands of the Ranees, to the detriment
of other branches of the Royal family."

"A treaty has also been made with the Khan of Khe-
lat, by which he binds himself to consider our enemies
as his enemies, and to protect the whole of our frontier
province of Scindo from all encroachments, and also to
Allow merchandise to pass through his territories un-
molested at a fixed rate of duty. On these conditions
ho is to receive a subsidy of 5,0001. a year."