The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-27 00:00:00

THE DANUBE.

We learn from Vienna (July 25) that a Russian
camp of 50,000 men is to be formed at Urzitseni.
The Turkish outposts are at ParApajni, where a
most sanguinary engagement was fought on the
19th. Priuce Gortschakoff is confirmed in the
command of the Moldo-Wallachian army.
A Vienna journal publishes a letter from Bu-
charest of the 12th, in which it is stated that Prince
Gortschakoff, the commander-in-chief of the Rus-
sian army in the principalities, had received there,
by courier from St. Petersburg, a letter from the
Czar approving of his new plan of operations. The
Russians boast, says the writer of this letter, that
they are going to resume the offensive, and that
they will drive the Turks into the Danube.

REPLY OF AUSTRIA TO THE LATEST
RUSSIAN PROPOSITIONS.

The Breslau Gazette repeats the. statement of
Colonel de Manteuffel having been ordered by the
Prussian Cabinet to submit some new propositions
to that of Vienna, in consequence of seine tele-
graphic news received at Berlin from St. Peters-
burg. It would appear, however, from the ac-
count in the Breslau Gazette, that these propositions
had not been favourably receive 1, and that Prince
Gortschakoif, who had also received despatches
from St. Petersburg, had been informed by the
Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs that the
Cabinet could not consent to modify the summons
which it had addressed to the Russian Govern-
ment.

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that on the Bth a Russian steam-frigate entered
in the same manner. An opinion prevails at Odessa
that the allied fleets will endeavour to get posses-
sion of the port for a winter station. Every effort
is making to increase the means of defence.
Commercial letters from Akjerman of. the 10th,
brought by travellers, and quoted by the Ham-
burg News, state that the inhabitants of that
part of Russia are afraid of its soon becoming
the scene of important events. In the early
part of July several vessels of the allied fleets re-
connoitred the mouth of the Dniester, awl the
public, living, as it does, in perpetual alarm, sus-
pects the following to be the plan of the campaign :
—" The allied fleets, after a few feigned attacks
against Sebastopol, will land troops at the mouth
of the Dniester, to take possession of the fortifica-
tions there. These troops are also to occupy
Odessa, and direct their attacks against A
kjerman.
The Turkish troops which are advancing in the
Dobrudscha, and those now occupying she month
of the Sulina, are to support these operations. At
the same time a naval division is to enter the
Danube and attack Ismail." Strong fortifications
are being constructed at Akjermau with every
possible baste, and vessels from Bender are bring-
ing fresh troops for the defence of that place. A
number of craft are ready to take all the Govern-
ment property into the interior at a moment's
warning in case of invasion, and many of the in-
habitants are beginning to leave.

BASIS PROPOSED BY ENGLAND AND
FRANCE FOR PEACE.

It was reported on 'Change to-day writes the
Vienna correspondent of the Morning Chronicle
on July 22, that the answers of the Western
Powers to the late Russian propositions had
arrived, and that the conditions which England
and France are willing at present to lay down as a
basis for peace negotiations are :—That the pro-
tectorate which Russia has hitherto exercised over
the Danubian principalities should be henceforth
transferred to England, France, Austria, and
Prussia, and that the executive administration of
this protectorate should, by mutual consent, be
delegated to Austria ; that the old treaties between
Russia and Turkey be not renewed ; that securi-
ties for the free navigation of the &ina mouth of
the Danube be given in a practicable and tangible
form, to be concerted by the four powers ; that
Russia bear the present war expenses ; but that,
on the other hand, not an inch of Russian terri-
tory shall be demanded if the above conditions be
accepted. It was also added that Austria and
Prussia fully approved of this basis for peace nego-
tiations, and that the same had been already
communicated to Prince Gortschaltoff, the Russian
envoy extraordinary here, who is stated to have
received these counter propositions with great
complacency. I report the stock-jobbing version
of these proceedings solely for the purpose of con-
tradicting it. In authentic quarters I was hi-
formed that confidential communications, upon the
subject of the last Russian propositions, have
doubtless been exchanged between the Western
Powers and Austria and Prussia, but that at pre-
sent nothing definitive has been resolved upon.
On the other hand, I was assured that it may be
safely taken for granted that there are no imme-
diate prospects of peace negotiations. It appears,
moreover, that the pending communications be-
tween the four Powers, upon the subject of the
Russian propositions brought to Vienna by Prince
Gortschakoff, are not yet ripe for publicity, but
that it is certain that Prussia is urging Austria to
join her in a declaration that the last propositions
of the Czar are deemed acceptable by the two Ger-
man Powers, to which England and Francecannot
(according to the arguments hold here by the Prus-
sian envoy extraordinary. Lieut.-Colonel von Man.
teuffel) possibly object. On the other hand, it is
equally certain that Austria repudiates this sug-
gestion in toto, being determined to remain faith-
ful to the principle of unanimity with the Western
Powers, agreeably to the spirit and tenour of 'the
various protocols to the Vienna Conference. I was
furthermore assured in - official circles - that not
many days will elapse ore the position of Austria '

will be fully cleared up, and finally disrobed from
all ambiguity or unction in the present war, to the
entire satisfaction of the Western Powers.

DEATH OF CAPTAIN PARKER.

CONSTANTINOPLE. July 13.-1 send you news of
an unhappy encounter, which has resulted in the
death of a young and promising commander.
The circumstance may probably be known in Eng-
land by some shorter route bef ,re it can be learned
from here, but the following details will no doubt be ac-
ceptable. The town or village of Sulina, at the mouth
of the Danube, is almost surrounded by a jungle of reeds,
where stockades had been formed for the defence of the
place by the enemy. These reeds are so high that they
conceal both men and horses from the view of any one
ascending the stream by a boat, and furnish great facili-
ties for a stubborn and wily enemy to harrass troops
whom he' is unable to meet in the field. After the
capture of Sulina last month, it was thought that the
Russians had entirely left the vicinity, and a degree of
confidence or negligence was inspired, which has termi-
nated most unfortunately. It appears that so far from
the enemy having abandoned the neighbourhood, they
have never ceased to occupy the jungle which lines the
banks of the river, and have waited for their opportu-
nity to revenge the off hand capture of this important
point. On Friday. the 7th of this month, Captain
Parker, of the Firebrand, was ascending the river in his
glg, and at some distance behind was another boat of the
same vessel, and Capt. Powell, of the Vesuvius, in a third
The excursion seems to have been entirly unconnected
with any warlike object,and so completely was the pre-
sence of an enemy unanticipated that the Chaplain and
Surgeon of the Firebrand were in the boat with their
captain. As the first boat came abreast of a stockade,
supposed to have been long deserted, a shower of mus-
ket balls were poured in from an unseen enemy. No
one was struck ; but a ball passed through the surgeon's
coat, and one or two others narrowly escaped. The boat
immediately put back to obtain the assistance of the
others, and Capt. Parker and his companions were dis-
posed to treat the matter very lightly, laughing at the
Russians for not being better shots. Capt. Powell with
the other boats came up almost immediately; the sailors
rowed for the stockade, and Capt. Parker sprung on
shore to lead the attack. He had made but a few steps
when he was struck through the heart with a musket
ball and fell dead. Capt. Powell then took the com-
mand, and in a few minutes had driven the enemy from
their stronghold. The Russians however made a brave
resistance. An eye-witness declares that the only two
of the enemy to be seen at first were a couple of offi-
cers, who stood calmly at the embrasures of the stock-
ade and were picked off by the English sailors, while
directing their men where to fire. Indeed, the accounts
of all our encounters with the Russians mention the
same fact, of the devotion and bravery of the Musco-
vite officers, who literally drag on their men by the
collar, or force them into fire with the points of their
swords. The Russians seem in this respect to be exactly the
opposite of their Turkish opponents; in the Ottoman army
the common soldiers are distinguished by the fanaticism
and desperation of their attack, while the officers are be-
wildered with fear and responsibility. The contrast teaches
a kind of lesson, and shows that the Turkish resistance
is that living national principle which inspired the
Spaniards at Saragossa, and the Transteverini at Rome ;
while the Russians are actuated only by the prompting
of military honour, a feeling seldom shared in by the
private soldiers, who can rise to no high rank, and must
have a deeper feeling to incite them to acts of courage.
The unfortunate commander who fell in this affair was
one of the youngest post-captains in the navy : he had,
it is said, just completed his 29th year. He was the
son of Admiral Hyde Parker, late one of the Lords of
the Admiralty. Belonging to a family long distinguished
in the naval annals of this country, he gave promise of
equalling any of his race in services to his country. So
small ha-, been the actual amount of fighting which has
taken place during the war that the death of a single
officer creates a sensation, which old men, accus-
tomed to the bloody bulletins of former days, perhaps,
scarcely understand.