The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-18 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, F EISRUARir is, 1856.

THE TU.RKL3II ARMY IN MINGRBLIA.

(From the Times Correspondent.)
TURKISH ARMY, MINGRELIA, Jan. la—Since the
date of my last letter the tranquillity of the camp has
been in no way disturbed by the enemy, who is sup-
posed to have retired as far as Senakria. On the 2d
inst. Aali Pasha wade a reconnaissance with four bat-
talions of infantry, and explored the country for some
distance to the left of the Kutais road. He reached a
point on the bank of the river Seva, from which a small
encampment of militia could barely be made out by the
telescope. Expedrtione have been sent in other direc-
tions also, the chief object of which is to exercise the
men in marching, and to withdraw them for a time
from the stifling atmosphere of their chareoal-heated
' tents. The rear of the camp just reaches the brow of a
hill overlooking the valley of the Seva ; and on this bill
formidable earthworks have been thrown up and guns
mounted, rendering the position nearly impregnable.
Huts are springing up in all directions, and officers and
men are anticipating three months of not unpleasant
idleness. The axes of the Turks have completely
changed the face of the country, and the dense forest
which clothed it a month ago has nearly disappeared
from the neighbourboOd of the camp, so that the inva-
sion mu eventually have a great influence in promoting
the cultivation of the rich alluvial soil. Improving
roads are steadily working changes for the better is
the
,condition of the troops—changes doubtless due,
in some measure, to the presence of Omer Pacha, at
Redout Ealeh. Strings of beasts, laden with .clothing
and provisions, may daily be seen upon their way,
although the difficulty and expense of transport are
such as still to limit the supplies. This limitation
has just made itself felt in an order directing all
uzbashis (captains) and all officers of inferior rank
to sell their horses forthwith, so as to diminish the
demand for forage ; while the baggage animals have
been so long on starvation allowance that their numer-
ous carcasses scarcely attract the wild dogs and jackals
of the country. It is much to be wished that civilisation
could so far pretail in Constantinople as to Nrocure the
addition of lime juice to the Turkish ration ; for, as at
present fed, the approach of summer will inevitably see
the men decimated by scurry, as they were last year at
Eupatoria.
There has been a distribution of honours and rewards
to the troops engaged on the Ingour, a distribution
which has afforded an amusing illustration of the contrast
between Western and Oriental notions. The officers who
commanded in the action were ordered to send in lists
of such of their subordinates as they deemed worthy of
the Medjide. Lieut.-Col. Ballard satisfied himself by a
list of 13 names, Osman Pasha, who had about
Vac Caine number of killed and wounded, and
whose force occupied a position scarcely of equal
importance, sent in 230! The requisition of
each officer was strictly complied with. tinder
Col. Ballard the men of real merit were decorated.
Under Osman Pasha every officer who either was or
ought to have been engaged—those who ran away, those
who remained at their post—all received the order of
merit. Among the number were numerous pipe-bearers
to the principal officers ; but, under the Turkish system,
rewards to these men are more ludicrous in seeming
than in reality. An officer of any rank, when his troops
are going into action, has his carpet spread upon the
ground they are about to leave, dismounts from horses,
squats down, calls for pipe,- wishes his men God speed,
and endeavours, more or less successfully, to deaden ter-
ror by the soothing influence of tobacco. The cbibouque-
jee, compelled by respect to stand behind hie master, is,
of course, far more exposed to danger than he, and ser-
vants of this class who will do their duty within sound
of firearms, and will constant:y be ready with the so-
lace so much needed by their employers, are not only
highly valued, but deserve decoration at least as much
as their employera. It is, however, unfortunate that
an order, founded with good intentions, should be be-
stowed so indiscriminately as to lose all valise, whether
in the eyes of officers or of men. The cost of the decora-
tion, given alike to the brave man and to the coward, is
a fruitless expenditure of money that cannot be too
strongly condemned. Together with the orders some
jewelled swords were sent t,) the officers of Osman Pasha,
and of these swords one has fallen to the lot of a colonel
who sought refuge in a hospital during the whole battle
of the Ingour, and whom the surgeons vainly attempted
to dislodge. Accustomed to the bravery of every class
of our own troops, English readers will scarcely com-
prehend or credit the cowardice of Turkish officers.
Some of those under the orders of Col. Ballard sheltered
themselves in a house during the action, and, when
directed to join their men, objected, saying that there
was no cover, and that they would be exposeil to fire on
their advance. It- is reported that Cul. Ballard promised
these men the cover they required, and that he actually
afforded it, by taking them ono by one behind him on
his horse, and thus conveying them to their posts o
duty,

do the 6th the arrival of a mail from England brought
out copies of Lieut.-Colonel Simmons's despatch. Col.
Simmons mentions with due honour the names of Qolo-
nels Ballard and CAdell, and the name of the late Capt.
Dymock ; but he passes over in total silence the two
other British officers who were concerned in the engage-
ment. Surgeon Edwards, of the British medical staff,
and his assiNtant, Mr. Turner, were stationed by Colonel
Simmons at a point from which the roads taken by the
three columns of attack diverged. They remained there,
exposed to firo, during the whol9 time of the battle, had
the entire charge of all the wounded, and were occupied
without intermission until daybreak on the 7th in the
performance of operations and in attendance upon in-
juries. They subsequently had all the patients under
treatment until fit for removal, and then accompanied
them to Shemserai, where, for the first time, the poor
unfortunates were handed over to the tender mercies of
the Turks. Omer Pasha, although himself taking the
standard military view f the value of doctors, could
not shut his eyes to the services of Surgeon Edwards,
and requested Col. Simmons to convey to that gentle-
man his especial thanks. But Col. Simmons did not
think this sufficient to procure for Surgeon Edwards the
honourable mention he so entirely earned ; and from
which alone he could derive real credit or permanent
advantage, as a consequence of the proper dischargez
of his arduous duties.

AUSTRIA'S COMMUNICATION TO THE

GERMANIC DIET.

The Nouvelliste de Ilambourg publishes the text
of the communication laid by Austria before the
Diet at Frankfort on the 7th inst. :
In conformity with the orders of this Court, the Im-
pedal Envoy, presiding at the Diet, has the honour to
deliver to the distinguished assembly copies of a despatch
addressed by the Imperial Cabinet on the 16th Dec. last
to Count E,terliazy, the Austrian Envoy at St. Peters-
burg, and of a document from the Russian Chancellor,
Count Nesselrode, dated Jan. 16, and addressed to Count
Eisterhazy.

The Diet will observe by these documents that the Im-
perial Court, after putting itself in agreement with the
Governments of France and Great Britain upon the pre-
liminaries of a peace, which those Powers find in con-
formity with the object of their alliance and the general
interests of Europe, has urgently recommended the ac-
ceptance of these conditions to the. Court of St. Peters-
burg, and that his Majesty the Emperor of Russia,
moved by the desire to restore the blessings of peace to
his empire and to the world, has decided to adhere un-
reservedly to the Austrian proposition.
The Imperial envoy has instructions moreover to trans-
mit a copy of a protocol signed at Vienna on Feb. 1,
which states that the representatives of Austria, France,
Great Britain, Russia, and Turkey have paraphrased the
text of the above-mentioned preliminaries, and have at
the same time made known the intention of their coerts
to name plenipotentiaries who will assemble at earia in
the course of three weeks, at latest, in order to proceed
to the formal conclusion of a preliminary convention to
the negotiation of an armistice, and to the opening of
negotiations for a definitive peace.
It is a lively satisfaction for the Emperor Francis
Joseph to be able to express in the midst of the govern-
ments of Germany the hope that the moment at length
ecn
he which
tphtahaotei
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fully participate in his sentiments. If a guarantee was
necessary in this respect, it would suffice to the Imperial
Court to know that the government of his Majesty the
King of Prussia, the august friend and ally of the Em-
peror, has employed all its influence in order to bring
Russia to conciliatory decisions, and that the lank Liege
of the other German Courts, expressed at St. Petersburg,
has contributed to the same end.
Hailed with joy in all parts of Europe, the return to
peace, the Imperial Government may be permitted to
believe, will be received by the Diet with a peculiar
satisfaction in consideration of the important bearing
which the objects destined to constitute the tenor of the
treaty of peace have upon the political and commercial
interests of Germany.
These conditions are the same in their essence as those
of which the Confederation has already generally ap.
proved, by anterior resolutions, and the first two of
which it has especially resolved to maintain in the point
of view of German interests. If the basis for the mainte-
nance of which the Confederation has in some degree
pronounced, have received to-day a more complete de-
velopment,don—whose
deliberationsthe
couldo f V
ontr
gramme of moderate peace—bad hut in view the double
object of preventing in the most efficacious manner the
return of the disastrous troubles which the world at this
Vienna,
utPpa rorldsti,o and
moment desires to see removed, and to secure, by a suf-
ficiently precise wording of the preliminaries, a Stronger
guarantee for the re-establishment of a definitive under-
standing. The distinguished governments of the Confe-
deration will see that the guarantees which the future
peace will bring will only be made the more precious for
Germany by the development given to these points.
On the other hand, the Diet will not misunderstand that
the said Powers, faithful to the principles—the collec-
tive recognition .of which forms the bond of their alliance
—are conscientiously interdicted from any proposition
which would not be fully justified by an ,incontestable
European interest, and which, for this veryreaaon would
not be of a nature which could not be honourably ac-
cepted by any one of the great Powere sharing its the

l'first rank the responsibility of the peace and prosperity
of Europe. The Imperial Court firmly believes that
this spirit of moderation and of solicitude for the general
good of the peoples will also dominate in the Confer-
ences about to open, and that consequently the right
expressly reserved to the belligerent powers in the Fifth
Point to propose, in addition to the Four Guarantee
Points, new conditions in the ,European interest, will
not be exercised in a sense which could give it the effect
of again compromising the work of peace so auspiciously
commenced.

•
As a member of the Confederation, the Imperial Court
hopes that the distinguished assembly will see in the
present communication a motive for declaring, in the
face of Europe, that entire Germany, united to Austria,
accepts and is resolved to maintain therbases upon which
the approaching Conferences are to build and consoli-
date a general peace.

AUSTRALIA

By the Magdalena steamer we have received, via
Panama, five days' later news from -
.4elbotarne,
being to the 20th Nov., and Sydney to the 14th
Nov.:—

(From the Panaina Star, Jan. 23.)
We have received files of • the Melbourne Argus
to the 29th Nov., via Callao.; .they contain, how-
ever, little nesis of interest.
The price of.geldinis'declined at Melbourne 6d.
per, ounce, being quotecl,at 3/. 14s. 6d.
The t 4iaplaced the rate of exchange with, Eng-
land at fdt. on N6v.119.
The closing price of flour on Nov. 17 at Geelong
was 49/. tko 60./. per ton for Chilian. Business there
was rapialj improving.
At,Adelaide flour was rising in price on Nov. 13,
and is.ooted at 551. to 601.
From Sydney our advices are to the 14th Nov.
Little was doing in the house, says the Argus cor-
respondent. The "Steam Postal Bill, having passed
through committee, may be considered' as already
on the statute book. The sum of 20,0001. has been
inserted as the contribution of New South Wales
towards a general line for all Australia.

The Emma from Liverpool, the Rajah of Sara-
wak from Bristol, the Forest Monarch from the
Clyde, had arrived at Melbourne. The James
Baines was advertised to sail from Melbourne on
the 25th Nov. for Liverpool ; the Emma on the
10th Dec. for Liverpool ; the Admiral on the Ist
Dec. for London ; the Statesman on the' Bth Dec.
for London ; the Blackwall on the 20th Dec. for
London ; the Sussex in January, also for London.

SUICIDE OR JOHN SADLEIR, ESQ. MP,

Shortly after 10 o'clock yesterday morning, a police-
constable found the body of a gentleman on Hampstead-
heath, and immediately had it conveyed to the work.
house. From a paper found in his pockets, it was sup-
posed to be the body of Mr. Sadleir, M.P. for Sligo,
who was, for a short time, one of the Lords of the Trea-
sury under the last Administration, and has long been
chairman of the London and County Bank. The collar of
his shirt, and a cambric pocket handkerchief were also
marked with the name of Sadleir. In his pocket's were
found-71. in gold, Bank of England note of 51., No.
32,302, 12s. in silver, and threepence in copper, a silver
cream ewer, washed with gold crest " lion rampant,"
containing a portion of bitter almonds, bottle containing
a portion of hitter almonds, labelled as such in six places,
and marked " poison," razor case containing two razors,
white handles, lead pencil, some loaf sugar, and blotting-
paper, paper knife, and steel blade. The deceased had on
a black hat, named Christy, Bond-street, grey wrapper,
with frock-coat, raised silk plush waistcoat, fancy tweed
trousers, grey lambs' wool socks; walking shoes, buck-
skin gloves, black silk neckerchief, and • a fancy shirt.
Dr. Nichol, of Hampstead, was in immediate attend-
ance, and pronounced life to have been extinct some
hours, and, to all appearance, from the essential oil of
bitter almonds. Dr. Nichol At once proceeded to the
residence of Mr. Sadleir, M.P., 11, Gloucester-square,
Hyde-park, and saw the housekeeper only, who informed
him that she bought the poison yesterday at Maitland's,
Chester-terrace, Hyde-park, by her master's order, that
her master wrote many letters yesterday, and one to a
Mr. Norris, who was expected at his house in the course
of the day. At a later period of the day two gentlemen
visited Hampstead, and identified the body as that of
Mr. Sadleir. It will remain at the workhouse waiting
the inquest.