The Sun.
London, England, 1835-12-29 00:00:00

TURKEY.

CONSTANTINOPLE, DEC. 2.—On the 28th •ult. Lord
Ponsonby bad his audience of the Sultan. Its ostensible
object was to deliver to the Ambassador the present his
Highness had prepared for the King, and it consisted of a
most brilliant snuff-box, ornamented with a portrait of the
Padishaw, which was given with many expressions of warm
and friendly feelings towards England. The Sultan then
-placed on the breast of Lord Ponsonby himself a splendid
Turkish decoration, remarking, that a heart that beat so
truly in the interests of the Ottoman empire, could not be
suffered to remain without an 1 Juba:- Nishatz, a decoration
of honour. Messrs. Doyle and Bagot, gentlemen of the
embassy, were then decorated with Iftihar Ni.Thans, suited
to their relative rank, and the Sultan withdrew, recom-
mending to his Ministers and grandees, who were collected
for the occasion, to treat the Ambassador with every mark
of distinction, as a personage for whOin he (the Sultan) had
a most particular regard. The Sultan and his whole .Court
are disgusted beyond measure at the withering prepotency
of Russia. The speech of the Emperor Nicholas at War-
saw to tile Polish deputation has been translated into,
Turkish, and copies lia-e been circulated among the mem-
bers of the Government, who have read it with feelitaga of
deep disgust, warmed up with burning indignation. They
see the man in it, and tremble at the thoughts of the danger
they have already passed, and of those by which 'the-v are
still hedged in. Delivered up to the tender mercies of such
a man,they feel how desperate would be their situation, anti
it is no wonder they turn their hearts towards England; on
whose fiat now depends their political existence.
I have seen a letter from Aleppo, dated 14th ult. • It
states that all Syria was in the quiet of despair. The moun-
taineers had given up a great part of their arms, and 2,000
of them had been enrolled in the Egyptian ranks. Sc-
raskier Ibrahim had been sent to the frontiers to repair va-
rious fortresses, and having taken his measures, he was to
go to Damascus and attend a grand divan, which was to be
held there. The impression on the minds of some persons
in Syria was, that Ibrahim Paella, on his return to Egypt,
would march forward immediately, and invade Asia Minor.
We have news from Alexandria of the.l3th ; all was bustle
and confusion to recruit the army without the loss of a mo-
ment ; -and the Paella was so distressed for cash that, not-
withstanding the prohibition of the export of grain, in con-
sequence of the certain prospects of a scarcity for the coming
year. He had sold wheat and barley to keep going for a
day or two, without which he would have been at a dead
stand still.

Lord Ponsonby received despatches from London by a
messenger who arrived on the 28th ult., and I am told an-
other messenger is very shortly expected. It is said that
in three or four days the Pluto steamer will proceed
borne, taking despatches. It seems possible she may
go .no further than Malta, whence the Admiral may
send the despatches on by another conveyance. The
intelligence picked up during the recent trip of the
Pluto to the Russian ports does not appear to be
very flattering to Russia as regards her actual strength,
and some of the officers think that the ships at 'Sebas-
topol could not be made ready for active service without
a long delay. I have reason to believe that appearances
in that respect were very deceptive.. Topmasts and rig-
ging can be set up very quickly where there are plenty of
hands—provisions, stores, and ammunition were all ready in
the arsenal, and troops in abundance were not far distant.
A camp of 50,000 men and more had already .been exhi-
bited at Bieloteharkoff, another to a similar extent was
collected at some place at no greater distance from the
coast of the Black Sea, and a third was being formed in
Crimea ; besides which, there is the army in Bessarabia,
under General de Witt, and troops dispersed in the
neighbouring towns, all these forming an aggregate most
formidable. Some of them, it is true, will be required to
reinforce the army of Caucasus, which, ever and anon,
receives hard knocks from the exasperated inhabitants. The
information collected by Colonel de Roos and Captain
Drinkwater, I have no doubt is excellent, as far as it goes ;
but is it possible for officers, thrown in as such among Rus-
sians and Russian spies, should get any other details than

. . .
those united to the views' of the Russian GoVern-
Merit ? The ;Pluto's trip to the • Russian ports might
have been made more advantageous by proper mea-
sures having been taken. For instance, she went
into Anapa, a port of Caucasus, and actually had on
board no person capable of talking to the inhabitants ! A
man who spoke Turkish might have collected, by proper
management, details of the true state of the Russian army
there, the force of the Caucasians, &c. Then, again, the
Pluto took on hoard a Russian officer as a pilot, and it was
almost certain that he knew English perfectly, although he
pretended to be entirely ignorant of the language, whilst he
was never tried on the point-, and it was not ascertained !
When the little yacht Turquoise took a turn in the Black
Sea, things were managed more cleverly.
I am told that the Porte has signified its consent to the
new line of demarkation on the Grecian frontier ; hut on
one condition, which I fear will hardly be accepted by the
Three Powers, viz.,—that they no further interfere- in mat-
ters concerning Greece! It is whispered that the Porte
has begun to talk of the debt to Russia as a debt which
ought never to be paid. I perfectly agree with them on
that head. If paid at all, England, I Suppose, must pay it,
and it would be a million and a half very badly bestowed.
There is a talk about a diplomatic note Austria recently
gave in to the Porte, concerning the state of Bosnia, and
to which the Internuncio is very pressing to get an answer.
Austria, it appears, wants the Porte to take ithmediate
steps to put in order the Bosnians, whose -predatory'excur-
sions on the Austrian territory arc of course annoying.
The Porte will give Austria satisfaction in due Lime, but it
is not a moment for the Porte to put fresh irons in the fire.
This demand of Austria is an old story. Last year Corn-
..
missioners were named to look into it, but the Bosnians
are rather difficult people to deal with. They are a fine
military set, and can bring into the field 50,000 to- 60,000
excellent horsemen. They are naturally well disposed to-
wards the Sultan, but are kept in an unruly State purposely
• .;