The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-02 00:00:00

THE WAR.

CONSTA.NTINOPLE, APRIL 13.—The Banshee, which
proceeded to the Black Sea with the declaration of war,
and despatches for Admirals Dundas and Hamelin, re-
turned to Constantinople on Tuesday, and brought the
following most important intelligence :—Her Majesty's
steamer Furious was detached from the fleet, which was
lying at anchor in Kavarna Bay, sent to Odessa to fetch
the British and French Consuls, Mr. Jeames and M.
Segur. She was fired at, as was also the boat which was
launched and being sent on shore with a flag of truce. On
the Furious rejoining the squadron, the British and French
Admirals held a council, and it was resolved to proceed
immediately to Odessa and bombard the town. When the
Banshee left Kavarna Bay, the combined squadrons were
weighing anchor. The feeling that spread through the
whole fleet, on hearing that i boat's crew of the Furious,
bearing a flag of truce, had been fired upon by the
Russians, may be easily imagined. The Fury captured a
Russian schooner, but was chased by five Russian vessels
of war from Sebastopol, and was compelled to abandon
the schooner. She kept the crew as hostages. There was
a general illumination on the 10th, on board the vessels
of the fleets, when the Banshee brought the order to com-
mence hostilities. The departure of the fleet for Odessa
was imminent.

CONSTANTINOPLE, APRIL 17.—A fearful storm, with
snow, is raging.. 1,600 English troops have arrived in the
Himalaya, and are quartered in the new barracks at
Scutari. There are 26,000 French and 8,000 English at
Gallipoli, and provisions are very scarce. A French,regi-
ment and a detachment of one of the Highland regiments
have gone on to Adrianople. From the army of Asia we
learn that 4,000 men refused to march from Erzeroum to
Kars on account of their arrears of pay.
Arnezis, APRIL 21.—The Gulf of Corinth is guarded
by French ships of war, and the communication between
the continent and the Peliponesus is almost entirely cut off.
The Greek government has been informed that no Greek
volunteers will -be allowed to enter Turkey. The whole
of Southern Thessaly is in arms. The Turks are said to
have been defeated at Mezzovo.

A despatch from Vienna, dated 24th, states that a sharp
combat took place on the 16th before Kalafat. Sixteen
squadrons of hussars and eight squadrons of Cossacks,
with six pieces of cannon, having come to make a recon-
naissance of the Turkish lines, the Pasha sent against
them two regiments of regular troops, some bachi-
bouzouks, and six pieces of cannon. The combat lasted
three hours. The Russians were vigorously repulsed as
far as Maglavit, with a loss of 500 men, The Turks had
only 14 killed, and 33 wounded.
VIENNA, APRIL 25.—Despatches from Bucharest an-
nounce that Marshal Paskiewitsch has given orders that
Lesser Wallachia shall be evacuated, that the communica-
tion with Servia shall be interrupted, and that all the free
corps shall be dissolved.
Advices from Alexandria of the 19th April announce
that all Greeks- will be expelled from Egypt on the Ist of
May. The Turk% still hold the citadel of Arta The town
has been entirely destroyed. 15,000 insurgents invest
Janina. The whole of Epirus is up in arms. Pl•ovesa is
tranquil. -
There has been sharp fighting at Trajan's Wall- The
Russians were drawn into au ambuscade, and suffered a
heavy loss of men and artillery. The Russians. passed
Trajanszs Wall on the 7th.
COPENTEAGEN, APUTS 25.—Helsingfors is nearly open.
Eighteen prizes had been taken in the Baltic. To render
the blockade of the coast of Finland effective, one diViSion
of the English fleet has gone to the Gulf of Finland,. the
other to the Gulf of Bothnia. All the vessels of the Freneb
Baltic squadron which left Brest are in Kioge Bay.
PARIS, 28th APRIL.—The Moniteur announces that,.
according ton telegraphic despatch from Belgrade of the.
27th, the Russians had experienced a considerable cheek
at Czernawoda, in the• Dbbrudscha, and that they had.
evacuated Lesser Wallachia.
V,PINNA, Assist 26.—For unknown reasons all the Rus-
sian force is retiring from Kalafat to Krajova. The eva-
cuation of Lesser Wallachia has been resolved'on, and the
troops are retiring on Bucharest, with their hospitals and
munitions of war in 1,000 waggons.

TRIESTE, APEIL 26.—Persia has officially declared a
strict neutrality. The French, steamer Caiman has been
wrecked on the ADyssian coast.
The St. Petersburg' Journal contains a notice that
English and French vessels will be allowed six weeks
from the 19th April 'to clear out of Russian ports in the
Black Sea and Sea of Azoff, and-six weeks from the 7th of
May to clear out of Russian ports in the Baltic. Enemies'
property in neutral bottoms wilTbe regarded as inviolable,
and may be imported into Russii. The subjects of neutral
powers on board enemies' ships-will be unmolested.
A medical journal gtves some curious details on the losses
sustained by the Russian- army, in the campaigns of 1828
and 1829 against Turkey: Out of 115,000 Russians who
at that time crossed the Ptnth, only from 10,000 to 15,000
returned to their country, the- remainder having fallen,
not on fields of battle, but in. the hospitals, from inter-
mittent fevers, dysentery,. and`: plague. Scarcely had the
Russian soldiers in 1828 entered Bulgaria, where the tem-
perature between the day and•the night varies as much as
16 degrees, and where theaws fall like fine and searching
rain, than their health began ttPsuffer ; they were attacked
with a contagious fever, which the most rigid precautions
could not check. In less than one year the number of
patients in the hospitals and' field hospitals reached to
210,108, in consequence ofrmany having been attacked
more than once with the same disease. Many of those
who recovered from the fever were afterwards carried off
by scurvy, which reigned amongst the troops to a frightful
extent.

The accounts received frara St. Petersburg speak of the
financial difficulties of Russia as increasing with so much
rapidity that a climax may be daily expected. It appears
that, in his last ukase, the Czar has ordered an augmenta-
tion to his army of 144,0094 men. Upon this the Pays
remarks that it is very easy to order such levies, but that
a ukase will not create finances, nor ammunition, 'nor
provender, nor the many thousand etceteras which are
indispensable in order to make an army formidable or
efficient. In the Hungarian war, which was a mere joke
when compared with the present gigantic struggle, and in
which the Czar had orly 120,000 men engaged, he was
forced to have recourse to England for a loan, and he
actually contracted one fru London for 137 millions. The
present war has forced almost all the powers of Europe to
contract loans. France has completed hers ; England is
adding six millions to her floating debt ; and Austria is
at the present moment endeavouring to negotiate a loan,
which she would be glad, to get in London or anywhere
else. But where is.the• Czar to turn for the money which
he requires, and which he has not got ?
The following is a translation of the text of the Treaty
concluded between Austria and Prussia :

" Penetrated with, a, conviction of the obligation which:
the protocol lately signed in Vienna, in community with,
the Western powers, has imposed on Austria and Prussia,
in spite of the inefficacy of all their previous effort. at
mediation, these two German powers have for the whole
term of the war between Russia and the Western powers
concluded a convention, couched on a similar base withthe
convention between. France and England, and serving as a
groundwork fora, future peace, as it is laid down in the last
Vienna protocol. The difference that exists between the
two Conventions, arises simply from the differences of the
interests which, in Austria and Prussia have been en-
dangered by the European balance of power being•threat-
ened by Russia, from those that are endangered in, England
and Franeeend in either of these countries taken separately.
The stipulations of the Prusso-Austrian treaty- of alliance,.
offensive and defensive, are contained in the• following
three main points r—
"1. Austria and Prussia mutually guarantee to each
other the preservation of their present extent of territory,
both, within and without the German Confederation, so
that any violation of the territory of the one• shall be
looked on as equivalent to an invasion of the other.
'2 Austria and Prussia bind themselves mutually to
aid and assist each other, if necessary, even aggressively,
as soon as either of them considers German intrests to be
endangered, and the other coincides in that view. Defi-
nite conjectures in which this aid and: conjecture must be
afforded, are provided for in a separate memorandum, for-
ming, however, an integral part of the convention. To
give full weight to this treaty suitable military measures
shall be taken at stated intervals. The period, the extent,
and the nature of these military measures, are reserved
for special arrangements.
" 3. All the members of the German confederation are
invited to join in this alliance for protecting the common
interests of Germany, and to support it in conformity with
the obligations imposed on them by the constitution of
the Bund."

ABD-IL-KADER AND TUB WA.B.,—The Cologne Gazette
publishes a despatch from Constantinople of the Bth, which
states that some French officers are treating, at Broussa,
with Ahd•el-Kader, to induce him to take the command
of an Arab corps, and that the Emir seems inclined to
comply.

IiaJAN'S WALL—Trajan's Wall, built originally by
the Emperor Trajan, to defend the Roman province of
Mcesia from barbarian incursions, is about thirty-five or
forty English miles in length, from the Danube to tlke.
Black Sea. It is about eight or ten English feet high ;
and as the Turks have now cleared the fosse in front of it,
whilst the western portion is still further and indepen-
dently strengthened by a line of deep lakes, and by the
deep swampy vale or dell of Karrasu, the line is one of
imposing strength ; and about 1,000 or 2,000 feet (for the
distance varies) to the south of the rampart we have just
described runs another rampart of a similar character and
strength, called the South Wall.
THE TIME FOR TARING CRONSTADT.—The following
story is told by the Presse :—Some years since the Em-
peror Nicholas, acting himself as Cicerone, conducted an
English admiral over the fortifications of Cronstadt, when
the following conversation took place :—" You will admit,
admiral, that this is amagnificent fortress and as im-
pregnable-as Gibraltar ?” Oh, sire, no fort but Gibraltar
is impregnable." "what, then, is your opinion of Cron-
stadt ?" " It is a good fortress, and one difficult to take."
" Yes, doubtless, difficult. It could not be done with 16
ships." " Could it be done with 20 ?" " Not easily."
" With 25 ?" " It would take a fortnight." " With 35 ?"
"Oh, your Majesty, fifteen hours 1"
CONDITION OF OIIR TROOPS AT GALIPOLL-.--We are
encamped by the side of the French at Galipoli. We let
them get the start of us, it is true, and they have very
naturally availed themselves of that start to secure posses-
sion of the best quarters,—pretty much as we should have
done in their case. .But now is the time to compare notes.,
Already complaints reach us from quarters that would
hardly be suspected. IV.len full of 3.Toung blood, brave,
chivalrous, sanguine, car.ing for nothing but distinction,
and therefore no more
.disposed to complain of trifles than
if they were deer-stalking or fly-fishing, do complain, not
so much for themselves as for their men. As to Galipoli,
seeing that the situation has been selected entirely on
strategical principles, it is useless to lament that on the
spot chosen for the abode of a large army for we know not
how long, there is but scanty water, no shelter, and nei-
ther tree nor blade of glass. Those inconveniences are
common to us and our" But the management on
our side, we are told, infamous," and the contrast
offered by our proceedings to those of the French most
painful. Will it be believed—and the character of our
informant does not permit us to doubt—the sick have not
a bed to lie upon ? " They are landed and thrust into a
ricketty building, without a chair to sit upon, or a door
that will shut. The French, with their ambulances, ex-
cellent commissariat staff, and boulangeries, are, in every
respect, immensely our superiors. While no attempts are
made to rectify these deficiencies, Sir George Drown," we

are told, " seems only anxious that the men shall be clean
shaved, their necks well stiffened up, and their waistbelts
tight. He insists on officers and men being in full fig—
no loose coats, jackets, or any other less dignified relief to
strained muscle or fretted skin. His wonderful pack kills
the men, as the weight is so disposed as to hang from the
shoulders instead of resting on them. As the French
have got all the best houses and all the best attendance to
themselves, there is all the more reason why we should
make it up out of our own resources ; but resources we
have none adapted to the emergency. No serious harm
is done yet ; but if things are no better on landing on a
spot familiar to every schoolgirl, how will it be when our
fine, well-fed regiments have entered many days' march
into the heart of a desolated and miserable country ? If
this is all we have learnt since the beginning of .the cen-
tury, and if this is all the aid our civilization can offer us,
that aid is but equivocal. If the campaign were to be
fought out in Hyde-park, or if the men were lay figures
for the display of neat uniforms, we might congratulate
speculators on the good taste, vigilant eye, and unsparing
discipline of the general in command. Unhappily, this is
a battle not only of man with man, but of flesh and blood,
sinew and skin, with the elements, with fatigue, with
hardships innumerable, all of them telling severely on
natures ill accustomed to this sort of work. But, if civi-
lisation softens the soldier, can it do nothing to mitigate
aals hardships ? There can be no necessity why, on the
very day the expedition lands, the sick should be cast on
the floor of their extempore hospital, without the means
of either sitting or lying down in comfort. It should be
the business of our military authorities to be continually
improving the condition of the soldiers, as far as our
means will allow. It is now more necessary than ever to
husband life and strength, and to cherish, by every pos-
sible art the brave band whom we have sent so far from
home, and whose places it may not be so easy to fill in the
event of great loss. Even a cab proprietor cares for his
horses, and, small affection as he may have for them, he
takes care he shall not have to recruit his stock too fast
for his funds. It is to be hoped that due care will be
taken at home to maintain such a report of our progress
abroad as shall insure the early discovery and correction
of such evils as we have instanced before their melancholy
consequences shall be brought home to us by the dimi-
nished numbers of the muster-roll or by bloody disaAer.
MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT IN TILE BALTIC.—A letter
from Memel, of the 19th April, reports the melancholy
death of Captain J. Foote, of the corvette Conflict. Cap-
tain Foote came on shore on the morning of the 19th,
with another officer, on business connected with the prizes.
About five ins the afternoon he wished to return on board,
A fresh north-wester had been blowing for some time,
right against the stream of the Har, where it debouches.
There was- a heavy surf, especially between the moles.
The head pilot at Memel strongly advised Captain Foote
to take a larger boat for his return, bat in vain. The
captain, with his lieutenant, got into a bong narrow gig,
which was manned with five sailors. In less than ten
minutes after' the' boat suddenly disappeared. In an in-
stant the life-boat was, launched and manned with pilots,
but it came too• late' to save all ; the lieutenant and one
of the men were- still alive and clinging to the thwart
straps of the boatrbut half frozen ; the captain, with four
of his men, had arready found a watery grave: