The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-13 00:00:00

RUSSIA.

A letter from St. Petersburg of the 3d, in the
_Mats, says :—" Mournful accounts are constantly
arriving from the Crimea, where epidemic diseases
appear to be committing as many ravages as ever.
Typhus fever has recently carried off many young
men who are serving as volunteers in the Crimea,
and who were not well prepared for supporting the
fatigues which they have had to encounter. A
great number of medical men, many of them
foreigners, have also fallen victims to this malady.,
It is said that the ranks of the army have been so
thinned by disease that, even should peace be con-
cluded, it will be necessary to keep all the militia, in
order to fill up the blanks, so as to keep the army
even on a peace footing. Different deliberations
bave recently taken place on the subject of affairs in
Asia, but they have not led to any result. However
importai;t the taking of Kars may be, it is not the
the Russian army has been compelled
less true tha.
to retire on its Awn territory, whilst the army of
Omer Pacha still occupies a part of Miegrelia, and
in.strong positions, Although it is decimated by
disease. The question to be decided is, whether,
in the event of peace not. being concluded, the
Russians shall attack Omer Pacha or return on
Kars. If the latter, they would advance with an
enemy's army on their flank."

THE BALTIC.
HAMBURG, March. 11.—The flying squadron has
proceeded on to the further part of the Baltic, and
probably may extend itsvisit to the Gulf of Finland
if not prevented by the ice, large quantities of
which are floating about at a considerable distance
from the coast, thereby rendering any passage for
the vessels extremely dangerous.
We read in the Independance Beige, under date
Hamburg, 9th inst.:—" According to letters re-
ceived this morning from Kiel, it appears that the
English Government has resolved to reinforce by
several ships of the line the blockading squad-
ron, limited at first to two frigates and four
corvettes. These letters state that several
liners, which are to be under Commodore Wat-
son's orders, are daily expected at Kiel, and that
the frigate Euryalus has been directed to await in
that part the arrival of those reinforcements. The
naval force assembled at the Danish island of Moen
will accordingly only consist of four corvettes or-
dered there from Elsinore, and the 50-gun frigate
Imperieuse, on board of which the Commander of
the squadron has hoistedhis flag. The English Com-
modore, as well as all the naval officers, wbo went
ashore during their recent visit to Kiel, publicly ma-
nifested their displeasure at the prospect of theconclu-
sion of pea,ce. They openly avowed their anxiety for
the continuation of the yfa.; and a third campaign,

which, they say, would not prove so fruitless as the
two first. They declare that, by means of her new
and immense armaments, England, with her navy
alone, would to-day be able to destroy Sweaborg,
Cronstradt, and all the other fortresses of Russia in
the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. I do not pre-
sume to, qu ,stion the probability of the success of
the English fleet in those Russian waters, but if we are
to believe the numerous persons who daily arrive
at Hamburg from the Baltic provinces, all the for'
tresses.' have been placed, since the departure of
the Allied squadrons, in a truly formidable state
of defence. All the points along the coast suscep-
tible of being attacked and serving as landing
places, have been fortified and provided with such
means of resistance that, in order to attack them
with success, the assailants must bo prepared to
suffer immense losses in men and materiel,"

SPAIN.
MADRID, March B.—The adjourned bidding for
the Madrid and Saragossa Railway contract took
place to-day in the great hall of the Ministry of
Public Works, which was quite filled, more than
700 persons being present, including the first capi-
talists of Madrid. On the 25th ult. the offers sent
in were four, besides the original offer of the Great ~
Central of France, and they were read to-day as
f
•• 1. Senor Mathew and other capitalists offered to
take the contract at 20 reals per kilometre under the
proposal of the Great Central.
" 2. The Duke of Savillano and others 30 reels under
the same.
" 3. The Credit Mobilier 2,500 realm under.
" 4. Senor Salamanca and others 30,000 reels under.'
At the bidding to-day the point turned on whether
the parties who had previously sent in offers would
take the contract on lower terms than Senor Sala-
manca ; and that gentleman having come to an
understanding with the Great Central while the
Credit Mobilier and other competitors thought
proper not to depart from their original offers, the
result was, that the Great Central, having sent
in a written proposal to make the line at one
real less per kilometre than what Senor Salamanca
proposed, and no other proposition being mad•
during the half-hour allowed for receiving or b etre
ing the same, the construction of the line was ad-,
judged amidst applause by Senor Lujan, -Minis-
ter of Public Works, to the Great Central Railway
Company of France, of which Count Morn)? is
President, with a subvention by the Spanish Go-
vernment of 209,999 reals per kilometre. The
same Company has purchased of Senor Salamanca
the Madrid and Almauza Line, with its continua- ,
tion to Alicante, for the sum of 1.25,000 f. per kilo-
metre of the works executed.

PRUSSIAN AND BELGIAN SUPPLIES OF

WAR MATERIAL.

A. letter from Berlin, evidently with a leaning
towards Prussia, says :
" In the summer of 1854 Prussia forbade the transit of
arms and ammunition through her territory ; this did not
tonch England at all, to whom the sea was open, but it
cut off from Russia the Belgian markets. Subsequently
it was found that to evade the prohibition of transit, the
Russians imported Liege firearms, &c., into Prussia in the
name of a Prussian subject, paying the import duty, and
then exported them again as Prussian property, paying
the export duty. In March of last year this prohibition
was extended to all contraband of war not being of Zollve-
rein origin ; and this has been the means of stopping large
quantities, both from entering Prussia at the Belgian
frontier, or from quitting it at the Russian frontier.
Various instances of this I have already had occasion to
report to you at different times. This would not, how-
ever, prevent the Russian Government from following our
mown example of obtaining supplies from Prussian or Zoll•
verein manufacturers ; not only large quantities of poled ern
above 70,0001 b. in one parcel, but also large quantities of
carbines, revolvers, and cavalry sabres, have been supplied
from this country, the latter from the manufactories at
Solingen. It has, moreover, been done openly and with
the cognisance of the Governments ; in the case of the
powder, our Government supplied the saltpetre, and ',he
permission of its importation ' for purposes of the Confede-
ration' as was officially notified to Sir Alexander Mallet,
at Frankfort."

THE NATION4L GALLERY.—THE PAOLO
YEBOIVE•sE PURCHASE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Having just returned from the Continent, with'
a vivid impression of the works of Paolo Veronese, in
Italy, and in the Louvre, I write to protest against the
lamentable want of judgment shown in the purchase of
the picture which has recently been hung in the Na-
tional Gallery, as a production of that master. Even -
were it granted that this picture ever was by Paolo
Veronese, it certainly would have but little claim to be
received as such now ; for besides that its entire surface
has been greatly damaged by over-cleaning, there is
scarcely any portion of it that has not been stippled up,
or re-painted. So coarsely, indeed, and by so incompe-
tent a hand has the repainting been executed, that very
little acquaintance with pictures is necessary to detect it. .
But, sir, there is strong evidence that the "Adoration of
the Magi" is not by Paolo Veronese, but merely an in.
ferior school picture. That evidence is the absence of
the best characteristics of the artist. Ido not forget
that we are discessing a master of the decline of the
Venetian school, not one who flourished in the meridian
grandeur of the Tuscan, the Lombard, or the Roman.
Yet no one will deny to Paolo Veronese a certain
magnificence of composition, considerable power of
drawing, harmony and brilliancy of colouring, and a,
striking proficiency in perspective. In vain we look for
such (policies in the meanly desiened, feebly drawn,
discordant and slatey-looking canvas just imported ; its
Patagonian proportioned figures on the middle plane
Threatening to push the dwarf-like objects on the fore-
ground headlong upon the spectator. Who will recog-
nise in such a production the mind that conceived and
the hand- that executed the pictures in the Church of St.
Sebastian, and in the Pisani and Dege'e Palaces in Ve-
nice, the "Marriage of Cano," or even the "Consecration
of St. Nicholas," which faces it! Damaged as the last-
named work wa■ by the " cleaning" of 1853, it never-
theless still bears the stamp of the master. And now a
d about coat.
I am not cue to grudge a liberal price for a well-pre•
served, genuine, and favourable specimen of any master
worthy of a place in the national collection. The price,
however, of the late acquisition would be excessive, even
had it been an undoubted Paolo Veronese. It is well
known to all who are conversant with tke market value
of pictures, that Paolo Veronese is a master -whoa*
works, whether from their being frequently met with,
or from their holding comparatively only a subordinate
rank in art, are obtainable at moderate prices. To be•
stow 1,9771., besides "travelling and incidental ex-
penses," upon such a work as the "authorised" Paolo
Veronese, the "Adoration of the Magi," is a culpable
expenditure of public money.
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, •
F. Y. HURLSTONE.
9, Chester-street, Belgrave-square.