Star.
London, England, 1828-12-24 00:00:00

FRENCH PAPERS.

The remarks of the Journal des Debats are often de-
serving of attention; and we quote with pleasure, from
leading article of Sunday, the following ;ery Odic,
and, as it appears, cotrect sketch of the pa eseat position
• the rostrle forces in Tut key :
ig All. Bulgaria had bees invaded by the army of the
is.toe, under Cieneral Witrgemtern, and by the expedi-
tionarrarmy of Varna,' at Sr:: Under the orders of the
nraperor N cholas, and subsequently under the cum.
:nand of General Worontoff. Toe division If General
Sheroatoff besieged S.lis•;t4; the c rps of General
Roth. posted in echelons between that place and the
bead-quarters of General Wittgenstein, prs.tected the
siege ; lastly; General Geismar htld in check, or was
ordered to check on the- left balk of the Danube, the
Pacha of Widdin, whose frequent excursions to the
;ight bank had, since the opening of the campaign,
more than once ravaged Little Wallachia.
"Of this invasion what now remains? The posses-
sion of Varna without walls, with a garrison of from
5,0 0 to 6,000 Russians, and surrounded by 50,0t)0
Turks. Varna capitulated os.the 11th of Ozsober, and
/as delivered up on the 15th. The rainy weather cum-
',rioted in the beginning of November. On the Sth ssf
that month the inundations were succeeded by ten de-
grees of cold, and at that period the general retreat be-
''n. How can a garrison of 6,000 men, harassed by
daring sad active enemy, have repaired, in circum-
stas,ces.so unfatourable, the dismantled fortifications cf
place which, on the presumed day of the last assault,
preienteci nothing nut houses for shelter to the remains
of the intrepid companions of Jussuff Pacha?
4/ The army of General Wittgenbtern was the first
that executed a retrograde movement towards the
Danube. Marching through a desolated country, with-
out the means of transport, without baggage, anJ with-
out provisions, this corps, which had so bravely fought
during three months at the foot of the impregnable 0.,
sition of &hernia, proceeded to Wallachia, not with
out keels% on the passage mcurnful traces of i s stay
and its retreat. The Docube was repassed at Husova,
and the head-quarters already removed to Jassy, wink
the columns of the rear-guard bad n..rt yet reached the
right bank of the river.
It was inn the midst of these circumstances that a

rapid fa lin the temperature, to a degree rarely expe-
rienced in these countries, interrupted all at once the
waits of the siege of Stlistria, the possession of which
wAs, so late as a month ago, of so great importance to
establish And assure a line of operations, having Bazar-
jilt tor. its centre, and supported on its right by SiUMW,
and ..n its lett by Varna. The numerous garrison of
the former place has likewise contributed in part tit
hasten the raising of a siege which the ioclemencies of
An early winter were rendering every day more difficult.
It is even now demonstrated' that the match of the
Pacha of Wtddin was not foreign tl these nperations
In short, whatever opinion may be formed upon tile
tine cause of this event, it is no less necessary to ac-
knowledge that the siege has been raised after immense
losses in men, in horses, and in materiel. The troops
which f firmed the blockade, and- those which protected
it, have r: passed the Danube. Thus we observe Bul-
garia freed on this point, as well as before Schumla,
sod along the coast of the Black Sea, with the excep7
tion of Varna. r
41 General Geismar, by a bold coup de main, it is true,
has obtained possession of Kalatat ; but the retreat of
the Pacha of Widdin, who did not employ in its de-
tente forces incontestably superior to those of his anta-
gonist, at first created a belief that his movement upon
Sdistria might be a stratagem, and in fact this place
being delivered, the situation of Gen. Geism,r gives just
cause for anxiety. From Ittidschock and Silistria in.
cannons are easy into Wallachia, and the least Tut kid'
force beyond the river confines, in the position of Kale-