Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-04-18

name policy, within which the merchant yes
sells OF the enemy are allowed to pass free on
their homeward voyage, and similar license
i will probably be extended to them in the pre-
sent instance. These considerations are, how.
ever, of small Importance with reference to the
ships Of Russia. She possesses but a small
mercantile marine, and the vessels which have
entered our ports within the last few months
under the Russian flag have most Of them been
assigned to English owners, to provide against
every contingency.
1t is satisfactory, however, that a good ex-
ample should be set on these points by the first
maritime powers Of the world 1t has also been
intmated by the British government to q dep
utation Of Russian merchants, that they will
have liberty to continue their residence in this
country unmolested during the war; so long as
they conform to the laws by which Englishmen
are themselves bound; and similar pernis-
sion has been extended to Russian subjects in
France. We are curious to learn whether the
court OF St. Petersburg will respond to these
measures of courtesy and forbearance towards
privale.interests in the spirit which has dictated
them here.
There are about 1000 British subjects in St.
Petersburg alone, besides very large number
of our countrymen employed in other parts Of
the Russian empire. In this season, when the
only access to the Russian capital is by almost
1 impossible roads, it is scarcely possible for
them to withdraw, and most Of them must leave
with great Inconvenience city in which they
have long been domesticated. At the same
time many of these persons, such as engineers
and others, are engaged in occupations tending
to assist the enemy in war, and, therefore, in
consistent with the duty they owe to their SOW
ereign and their country.
Should such persons continue in the active
service OF Russia, after the declaration of war,
| they will Of course incur the penalties Of trea-
son. With regard to persons leaving Russia,
the prohibition of the export of gold by the i'm
perial government, already operates in very
! dsadvantageous manner, for they are obliged
to remove their property in the shape of paper
or bills, which are already subject to large
depreciation in other parts of Europe.
While these preparations establish the fact Of
our total rupture with TIE Russian empire and
give rise to all the legal consequences of war,
the Russian forces are preparing, as il seems,
! TO take advantage OF the earliest moment at
which it is possible for them to renew hostilites
on the Lower Danube. A telegraphic des-
patch from Vienna, confirming some other re-
ports to the same effect, informs us, as posi-
tive fact that large body of Russian troops,
stated to be $4,000 men, crossed the Danube
on the 23d from Bailow to Matschin.
We have ut present no means of vouching
for the accuracy Of this statement, and we must
observe that it has reached us with almost in
credible rapidly; for, If this occurrence took
place on the 23d, it could hardly be known the
day following at Bucharest, or in three days at
Vienna, as we have not yet heard that the
electric telegraph has been laid down beyond
the Austrian frontier and Braiow is distant
two or three hundred miles from the nearest tel
egraph station
We cannot, however, dscredit positive asser-
ton on such ground alone, and it is highly
probable that, if the Russians intend to cross
the Danube at all, they would operate as soon
as possible on the extreme right OF the Turkish
position; having relinquished, as it seems, for
the present, all hope of making successful at.
tack on Kaaiat. According to communica-
ton recently received in this country from
Omer Pasha, the Turkish general, was fully
prepared for an attack on the Dobrudscha, rs
that tract Of land lying between the Danube
and the Black sea, near the mouth Of the river,
is called.
Matschn itself is an inconsiderable fortress,
but considerable feld-works have been thrown
up by the Turkish engineers an ambuscade
had been prepared; and, if it were possible to
force the entrance Of the river at any of its
mouths, this contracted theatre Of operations is
not inaccessible to our own naval forces. This
circumstance renders the line of operations by
the Dobrudscha much less favorable to the
Russians than it was in the campaigns of 1928
and 1925 for the motive to follow the coast,
when they had the support Of their own ships,
now operates against them, since the sea is ocs
cupied by the allied fleets. At any rate, if the
fact of this movement be confirmed, it estab-
fishes the great Importance of forwarding the
French and English forces TO the theatre Of
war with all possible despatch; for, if the Rus
slams have collected sufficient force to enter
at once on the campaign, they will doubtless
use the greatest exertions TO overpower the
Turkish army before their European reinforce
ment can reach the scene Of action.
italy.
The Tunis correspondent of the London
Times, writing on March 22d, says 1t would
seem that conviction Of the uncertain tenure
by which her Italian possessions are held has
for some time been pressing itself on the gov
eminent OF Austria, and that schemes have
even been discussed as to the least unpalatable
way of disposing of them in case the govern
ment Mt Vienna should no longer be able 10
maintain its immediate rule A compromise
of such a nature has been spoken Of which,
while saving Austria from the humiliation oil
appearing to yield to q weaker though grow
ing rival, and preserving to her much indirect
influence in the northern provinces, might sat
isiy the constitutonalists and the demand for
Italian independence. But whatever concilia-
tory measures the Vienna government may
have in storeSor Italy, when called for by ne
cessi'y, its acts up to the present towards the
neighboring kingdom of Piedmont have been
anything but friendly. A short time ago NJ.
de NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. conduct as consul-gen.
eral of Austria at Smyrna, ia the affair Of
Koszta, must be fresh in the memory of every
one--having been removed from that post, was
named by his government to similar appoint
ment at Genoa, aud the first intimation Of his
nomination received by the Piedmontese gov
ernmeut was an official copy of his commission.
Now, seeing the conspicuous and unpopular part
this gentleman had taken in an affair that has
touched the sympa,hies of all political emiges
most sepsiby, and seeing that the Piedmontese
government had but quite lately refused to re-
ceive NJ. Fores,i DIS consul at Genoa for the
United States, because he belonged to party
declaredly hostile TO the Austrian and other