furrtgu ant( Colatrial.
Fn&secn.—The Emperor and Empress are about to visit Fontaine- bleau; and it is remarked that although M. Kisselef and M. Hubner, the Russian and Austrian Ministers, were not invited to the fetes at Com- piegne, they have received invitations for those at Fontainebleau. There is some probability of a reduction of the import-duties on iron and coal. The Emperor saw a deputation of metal-founders on the sub- ject last Saturday, and they pressed for a prompt decision of the ques- tion ; alleging that France cannot supply even iron sufficient to furnish rails for making lines of double rails, and that until each road shall have double rails accidents cannot be prevented. It is stated that the iron- masters will no longer oppose a reduction on coal and cast-iron, but that they will oppose a reduction on unwrought iron. A commission, of which M. de Morny is a member, has been appointed to report on the question. The present tariff is the highest ever levied in France. The conspirators who are said to have assembled at the Opera Comique in July last, with the intention of assassinating the Emperor, arc under trial. They are thirty-three in number, and form part of two secret so- cieties. The plot would seem to have been in progress since the spring ; and the Police assert that they have followed it step by step, and were thus enabled, at the last moment, to prevent its success. The first at- teffiht-xes to have been made at the Hippodrome. On this occasion the ettlek immense precautions; sentinels were hidden in all directions, and the conspirators were foiled. The attempt at the Opera Comique was all but successful ; the Police having arrested the assassins only just in time. It is stated that the object of the assassination was to proclaim the Republic, and make Blanqui Dictator ! Triurzy.—The campaign on the Danube is now fairly opened, and the result of the war operations is at present on the side of the Turks. Our news last week consisted of bare telegraphic announcements of the cross- ing of the Danube, accompanied by confused and contradictory state- ments of the successes on either side. But these doubtful reports are now changed to brief but authentic accounts. The Turks crossed the river in four places, between the 28th October and the 4th November. Having made good their position at Kalafat, they threw forward their forces, and the Russians retired towards Slatina ; between which place and Krajowa the corps of General Dannenberg, said to be thirty or forty thousand strong, occupied a position en echelon covering the road:to Bucharest. The Turkish force in Lesser Wallachia, thus established on the right flank of the Russian army, is said to amount to 12,000 ; and it was in- tended that additional troops should cross the Danube at Kalafat from Sophia. Lower down the river, another and smaller division of the Turks, 2000, crossed from Rustchuck to Giurgevo, and bombarded the town, making good their footing ; but we are not certified whether this body has only established itself on the island opposite Giurgevo, or whether that fortress has been " taken by storm." The most formidable movement of the Turks, however, was at Oltenitza. Here they crossed over from Turtukai, 18,000 strong—a Turkish account says 12,000. On their landing, General Perloff, at the head of 9000 Russian troops fell upon the Ottomans. The combat is said to have lasted, skirmishing in- cluded, for two days ; but the Turkish account says " three hours" ; and it adds that the combatants came bayonet to bayonet. The Russians fled, leaving 700 killed and wounded on the field. The Turks have also esta- blished 4000 men in Kalarache, opposite Silistria. Thus they possess the four most important points on the left bank of the Danube. The latest statement is, that the army in Lesser Wallachia has encoun- tered General Dannenberg ; that a " battle" ensued ; that the Russians left fourteen superior officers dead on the field ; and that they retreated on Bucharest. As the force of General Dannenberg was stated at the lowest to be 30,000 men, this victory would amount to a pretty complete defeat of the Russian left wing; and as their centre had been driven in at Oltenitza, it is assumed that Prince Gortschakoff is by this time defeated. There has been a good deal of discussion respecting the relative and actual force of the belligerents. It is estimated that the Russians have, on paper, 55,000 men in the Principalities; but that, allowing for 12,000 sick, and for some regiments which have not their full complement, the effective force only reaches 30,000. This is probably too low an esti- mate ; but it must be remembered that hitherto we have had only Rus- sian reports. On the other hand, the Turkish corps on the left bank of the Danube are estimated at 43,200, now probably raised to a higher figure. An interesting letter from an European Staff-Officer at Schumla, dated the 3d October, confirms the accounts of the efficient state of the Turkish army which have arrived from other quarters. This wri- ter describes the soldiers as jovial, obedient, and capable of enduring great hardship. Omer Pacha is mentioned with great praise ; and the position of the Turks at that date is accounted advantageous. Schumla had been made a very strong place ; the entire mountain country being turned into a fortress, and commanding the flank of any army marching on the Balkans. Selim Pacha has defeated a Russian army on the frontiers of Georgia. He was out on the 20th October, inspecting the ground, when suddenly a body of Russian cavalry appeared. The Pacha stood fast, and sent for reinforcements. Soon after this, a Russian corps of 15,000 from Redout Kale fell in with the Paella's army; and after an obstinate conflict, the Russians fled. They were pursued for some distance; and the Pacha planted the colours of the Sultan at °relic, eight hours' distance from Ciorock-Dere. Another conflict has taken place, near Batoum. Russia.—At last the threatened declaration of war has been issued by the Emperor: the subjoined Imperial manifesto is published in the Ga- zette of St. Petersburg. " By the grace of God, we, Nicholas I, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, &c., make known as follows. "By our manifesto of the 14th (20th) of June of the present year we made known to our faithful and dearly-beloved subjects the motives which had placed us under the obligation of demanding from the Ottoman Porto inviolable guarantees in favour of the sacred rights of the Orthodox Church. " We also announced to them, that all our efforts to recall the Porte, by means of amicable persuasion, to sentiments of equity, and to the faithful observance of treaties, had remained unfruitful, and that we had conse- quently deemed it indispensable to cause our troops to advance into the Da- nubian Principalities : but in taking this step we still entertained the hope that the Porte would acknowledge its wrongdoings, and would decide on acceding to our just demands.
"Our expectation has been deceived.
"Even the chief Powers of Europe have sought in vain by their exhorta- tions to shake the blind obstinacy of the Ottoman Government. It is by a declaration of war, by a proclamation filled with lying accusations against Russia, that it has responded to the pacific efforts of Europe, as well as to our spirit of long-suffering. At last, enrolling in the ranks of its army revolu- tionary exiles from all countries, the Porte has just commenced hostilities on the Danube. Russia is challenged to the combat; and she has no other course left her, than, putting her trust in God, to have recourse to force of arms, and so to compel the Ottoman Government to respect treaties, and to obtain reparation for the insults with which it has responded to our most moderate demands, and to our legitimate solicitude for the defence of the orthodox faith in the East, professed also by the people of Russia. " We are firmly convinced that our faithful subjects will join their prayers to those which we address to the Almighty, beseeching him to bless with His hand our arms in this just and holy cause, which has always found ar- dent defenders in our ancestors. In te, Domine, speravi; non confundar seternum. " Done atgzarskoe Selo,'the 20th day of October, (1st of November,) in the year of Grace 1853, and the twenty-eighth of our reign. " NinnorAs." Letters from Bucharest complain severely of the conduct of the Rus- sians. Prince Gortschakoff had drawn largely on the public fund, of the Principalities, and had ordered the local hinds to be seized. The Russian commissariat fix the price of provisions ; and persons who at- tempted to sell at a higher, that is at the market price, were beaten by the soldiers. Some young Wallachians had formed guerilla bands in the Carpathians.
Babaium.—The Legislative Chambers were opened on Tuesday, by King Leopold in person. The opening speech is chiefly remarkable for the record of progress completed and the recommendation of further im- provements. The organization of the army, it tells us, has given it a firmer position and "augmented our means of defence." The progressive augmentation of the revenue attests the national prosperity ; and the Chambers would be invited to "lower the import-duties on raw mate- rials, for the advantage of Belgian manufactures." Several laws con- nected with commerce, the judicial administration, relief of the poor, "credit foncier," the public health, and a system of agricultural tuition, are promised.
UNITED STATES.—The Atlantic arrived at Liverpool on Wednesday, with advices from New York to the 29th October.
A whale-ship commanded by Captain Fales bad put in at San Fran- cisco, and had brought some intelligence from the Arctic seas. He was there during the past summer. Ho thinks "all further search for the Erebus and Terror useless." He interchanged signals, between the Prince of Wales Head and the Diomede Islands with one of the exploring ships, supposed to be the Plover ; but the signals were misunderstood on both aides. The San Francisco Commercial Advertiser records his opinions re- specting the fate of Sir John Franklin.
"Captain Fales held conversations with the Esquimaux Indians at places where he landed with his boats. So many expeditions had been sent there during the last five years, that many of them could talk intelligibly on the subject of Sir John Franklin. Their arguments were such as to discourage all further search for the missing navigators. It was.thought by such whale- men as have navigated these regions, that the Erebus and Terror were not crushed by any iceberg or field-ice, but that they were capsized by being forced upon the surface of partially submerged ice. It was the opinion that the exploring expedition could not penetrate further this year than 72 deg. N. The Arctic Sea has been unusually clear of ice, and the winter has been comparatively mild. The mountains surrounding the Arctic Sea showed but little snow at the time the whaling fleet left, not so much as was seen on the Aleutian Islands two months before."
The whaling season has been very unproductive. The shipbuilding interest in New York are in a state of high glee. Mr. Webb, a well-known shipbuilder, has obtained an order to build for the Emperor of Russia a screw line-of-battle ship, mounting 100 guns, and with double engines of 500 horse-power.
Bxamirea..—The accounts from Bermuda reach to the 10th October, and represent the yellow fever as still in the island, though subsiding. No fewer than 64 convicts and eight officers had died ; and at St. George's, up to the 5th October, 350, or 25 per cent of the whole population. The Fifty-sixth Regiment lost 160 men and five officers. There were only ten . Sappers left on the island.
INDIA AND Cnnea.—The telegraphic despatch in anticipation of the overland mail arrived in town on Tuesday, but the full despatches have not yet reached us. The dates are Bombay 14th October, Burmah 17th September, Hongkong 27th September.
" Our troops in Burmah are in a state of siege, and the country in pos- session of the followers of Meatoon and other chiefs of equal rank, who give out that they are acting under the authority of the Ring of Ave. Our steamers are fired upon in going up and down the river, and the country is becoming a desert.
"Mr. James Thomason, the celebrated Governor of the Agra Presidency, is dead.
" Reports are current that a Russian army is invading nisei and Bok- hare ; that Russia has entered into an alliance with Dost Mahomed and with Persia.; and that a large Persian army has been collected in the valley of Sultanieh for the purpose of cooperating with Russia against Turkey.
" Shanghai has been occupied since the 7th September by a band of in- surgents. At Amoy, on the 12th September, the rebels completely routed a body of Government troops."
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