The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-06-27 00:00:00

THE WAR.

A serious altercation took place on the Bth instant at
Constantinople, between some liberty men of the Sidon.
and some Austrians in a wine shop. In the melee 0054
the Sidon's men were stabbed (one in the side and one 111
the neck), but both were " more frightened than hurt.
The cowards who inflicted the wounds escaped, but some
Guardsmen who happened to be present left unmistakable
impressions of their fists upon their countenances.
ILLNESS OF TICE CZAR.—Letters received via Hambarg
state that the czar was unable, in consequence of ill health'
to accept the invitation to an interview with the King of
Prussia. It is stated in Berlin that the czar ordered
Lieutenant-General Grumwald to proceed to the Prussia?,
frontier to compliment his Prussian Majesty. It 19
argued from this that there is no probability of the EV
peror arriving there in person.—Globe.

RETREAT OF THE RUSSIANS FROM SILISTRIA-
On the 16th inst., the garrison of Silistria made a sortie,
attacked the Russians on all points, and drove there
across the Danube.
Pursuing their advantage, the Turks crossed an aril of
the river, seized the opposite island, where the enerel
had constructed siege works, and from which Silistria had
been bombarded. The Russians fled to the Wallachia°
bank of the Danube, and were compelled to witness the
destruction of their batteries.
The Turks then brought out their guns and erected
batteries on the Bulgarian bank of the river, before the
north face of the fortress.
The Russian battalions east and west of Silistria
mediately began to recross the river, destroying their
bridges as they withdrew.
The garrison on this occasion was assisted by the corps
sent from Shumla to its relief by Omar Pasha. Some
of the troops of the latter took part in the battle on the
13th, and the junction of the entire corps was effected on
the evening of that day.
There was nothing voluntary or strategec in the flight
of the Russians. The defeats which preceded the rout
of the 15th had been followed by extensive movements,
with the object of reinforcing the besieging corps. 00
the 12th and 13th it was said at Kalarasch, " Silistr►,&
must be taken speedily, and at any cost. " The expulsion
of the Russians is entirely the work of the Turks.
The Russian army is in a most wretched plight. The
men are downcast, and utterly dispirited. All the chief
commanders—Prince Paskiewitsch, commander of the,
entire army of the Danube; Prince Gortschakoff, com-
mander of the investing corps ; and General Schilders,
director of the siege works—are wounded and disabled.
Five generals were either killed or wounded on the 13th,
and on the same day the siege works on the right bask
were destroyed by the Turks, with immense loss to the
enemy. ,

Flight to Wallachia was thus the only course left to the
Russians. They are now in the neighbourhood of Kala-
rasch, awaiting reinforcements and orders. At Vienna
it is thought that the Russians will find it impossible
again employ the same troops before Silistria, demora-
lised as they are by repeated and constant failure, and
that being unable to replace them in sufficient timer
Marshal Paskiewitsch will then give orders to fall back on
Jassy.
The garrison of Rustchuk is said, in advices received
from Widdin, to have crossed the river and attacked
Giurgevo. The Russians on this occasion lost 400 men
and nine guns. This intelligence is less authentic than
the accounts from Silistria and Kalarasch, which have'
reached Vienna through several channels, and are of 0
piece with previous intelligence.
The Russian division under General Liprandi is march-
ing in great haste from Slatina for Silistria.
General Schilders, who has lost a leg, lies in a claw
gerous state. He is advanced in years, and of nervous-
temperament. Prince Gortschakoff's wound is severe-
General Luders, who is also wounded, is said to be doing
well. Marshal Paskiewitsch suffers considerably from his
contusion. Count Orloff, jun., lingers without hope of
recovery. --
The Monifeur announces that, on the 13th, the Eng-
lish and French fleets !formed a junction at Borobund.
The British flag was hoisted at the main of all the ship*
and the French Vice-Admiral ordered it to be saluted
with 15 guns.
A despatch from Copenhagen of the 20th states that
H.M.S. Leopard and Valorous had attacked and destroyed,
the Crown Wharf at Kemi, in the Gulf of Bothnia, and
the small craft in the port. They abstained from injuring
Tornea.
A letter, dated Widdin, the 30th of May, says :—The.
Russians, on leaving Lesser Wallachia, pillaged every'
thing. They seized the archives and public moneys ; they
robbed the convents and churches of all their precious
ornaments. The Commander of the Ottoman troops,
Halim Pacha, has re-organized the administrative service
of Krajova. At his call, the majority of the employe's re-
turned to their posts, the proprietors who had emigrated
with their families returned to their homes. A Wala-
chian journal, the first number of which appeared at
KrAjova on the 25th of May, enumerates all the acts of
violence committed by the Russians, and makes an ener-
getic appeal to the nation in favour of the Ottoman
authorities.
On Wednesday a supplementary estimate of the navy
for the year ending the 31st of March, 1855, was given in
a parliamentary paper, from which it appears that g2o,oouat
is required for the expenses on account of prison s
war. Of that sum £5,000 is required for the purchase of
the House of Correction at Lewes as a place of
ne-
ment, and £15,000 for the maintenance, clothing, &c., of
prisoners, pay of officers in charge, and other expenses,
attending' their detention.
A leading item of intelligence from the Baltic is of 0
er
serious nature. Although widely contradictory report;
are current, as to details, the main fact is certain that
another c-'smity, similar to the affair of the Tiger, though
less disastrous, has befallen an English crew. From tbr
most reliable sources we gather that the Odin and Val'
tare landed 150 men at Carleby, who were attacked by o°,
ambuscade of rifles and by a masked battery of five go'
Lieutenant Carrington, a mate, a midshipman, and tti
men were killed, and two officers and 14 men wouna
ed
A boat was lost, and one mate and 28 men were take°
prisoners by the enemy. The Russian commander o'_,l9fr
killed. The ambuscade consisted, in addition to a mash,'
demi-battery, of a well concealed corps of light infantry
armed with the Minie rifle.
The capture, or rather the unopposed seizure of a Oa
town lying in the extreme north of the Gulf of Bothnia?
is the set-off against the above-mentioned loss of English
seamen. Tornea has been occupied, and if common fame,
says true, is about to be fortified and made a station for
British troops. The town of Tornea is not itself within
the Arctic circle—though at Midsummer the sun can be
seen from its church steeple at midnight; but the greater
part of the mark or district, of which Tornea is the capi-
tal, is within the Arctic circle. Englishmen are now pro-
mised a chance of being enabled to decide, experimentally,
whether hunting. star-gazing, or fighting, is the best
preservative against Arctic cold. But for six months of
the year they will have to fight by the light of the moon,
or stars, or Aurora Borealis.
THE RUSSIANS IN THE PACIFIC. Rear-Admiral
Price, commanding at Callao, has received directions to
commence, at once, hostile measures against Russian
ships and property. The rear-admiral has ordered the
crews of the squadron to practise daily, and intimates
to the men " his opinion that there will be much to be
done upon this station by the squadron under his orders ;
that Great Britain has a right to expect from it a proper
account of the Russian frigates that are known to be nevi
upon the station, as well as of the numerous privateers
that it is known soon will be."
BtEVET.—A supplement to the London Gazette of
Tuesday, 20th June, contains the long expected Allnl
Brevet. The extent of the promotions will be seen by the
following summary:—
Army. Artillery. Engineers. Marines'
To be Generals.. 48
2
Lient.-Generals.. 59
Major-Generals.. 79
Colonels
Lieut.-Colonels.. 123
Majors..

SUMMARY. •
Lient,-Generals to be Generals -
-Major-Generals to be Lieut.-Generals
Colonels to be Major-Generals
Lieut.-Colonels to be Colonels 2Ol -
Majors to be Lient.-Colonels.. 129
183
Captains to be Majors
Officers promoted by the above brevet will receive their
promotions subject to new regulations about to be pro-
mulgated by royal warrant. The brevet includes all tilot
lieutenant-generals, major-generals, colonels, lieutenVve-
colonels, and majors who were promoted to their resPe+c'ihe
ranks by the brevet of November, 1846 ; so tom of
general officers now on the list are of the sent officer
1851, in their respective grades. The youngettnfff
thetug
promoted is his Serene Highness Prince William
Edward of Saxe Weimar, lieutenant and captain'so
Grenadier Guards, whose lieutenant and capt CO?COM?
mission is dated 19th May, 1846.

DECIMiL CIIRRENCY.-011 Tuesday a deputation of
Lord including Stanley and Mr,
the X -Ph
waited upon the Chancellor of ecquery
Cobden, wai
lion. gentleman's memory, on the
thirty-fourtheme mercantile
te memberswo
world,
oafn Parliament, rliament, chiefly connected with
deputation was coin;
• ~ explained
coinage. Mr. Brown, M p • a
to the right ho
the " Decimal Coin
und sterlingthe
as a unit, in accor
dance with the opinion of the committee of the 00136,e,
tspouobsrieeedfertoe;s3linfi
decimalt
mh ebnrr.isggthoehfitle
of commons. He hoped the Government would Pe_ 4„6
resolution this session, declaring their intention to LTh.""'"
in a bill next session on the subject. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer said ;it was necessary, in the first
that before they issued decimal coins, the country 011°1ld
make up its mild what was to be the unit, and he Inuit
say, that he considered the question had not gone throng
anything like the process of sifting by all classes of th!
community which would make it safe at the present women'.
to take any decisive step with respect to it:—" The classes
who have really paid attention to the question are in I'
main the commercial classes, who are in general favourable,
not only to a decimal system of accounts, but to a cobot,
101.'
based upon the pound as a unit. But it is the enorraers_
classes of the community, who know nothing of acco,;
but who have an immense amount of transactions car the
on through a system of coinage quite different from
_Zci
decimal, having different divisors, who are to be aff_eqo
by this question if we adopt a decimal coinage. I" „rto
opinion this is a question on which the mere sentio,;This,
of the government are of no importance whatever. ".0„
is a case in which the convictions of the country for 4:fr,
only a part of, but the whole question. I own, a 504.0
Brown says, that lamby no means convinced in the
mind that we can get rid of the penny, looking
question as a practical question; but I make this admit
sion to you also, that nothing can be more unin3l3°',7oly
than my own opinion upon such a matter. The only
question is, what does the country think ? It is arhc
upon which the public sentiment, as far as it is anj
gathered from the press, is by no means unanimous;.icu
there is by no means the same preponderance of ollbat
in favour of it amongst the ordinary eommunit3.' sling
there appears among the commercial classes. The le„ nre
of the Government at the present moment is that we are
not ripe for decisive measures on this matter. Therdjust•
secondary points with reference to the satisfactory 2 „oils
ment of taxes and tolls, which, however, are sen't of
matters in themselves, and involving a vast ani°l'r-coei
labour. The mere manipulation, also, of the new et11:0, of
is a matter for consideration : for we have the oPoluisea
Sir John Herschell that twenty years would be reel
thoroughly to carry out the change."