POSTSCRIPT. SATURDAY.
Good Friday, which is a day of solemnity to many and of leisure to all, reflects itself next day in the scantiness of domestic news. The multi- tudes who crowded the sunny streets and parks in the afternoon or even- ing, and flocked out to the semi-rustic places of resort, may have ac- cumulated material for social and even political news hereafter—cer- tainly for police news ; but for the twenty-four hours the ostensible pub- lic action was suspended. The chief incidents this morning, therefore, are foreign; and the two that most touch the war and the interests of the day relate to Russia.
The Emperor Nicholas sends a letter to Prince Gortschakoff, presuming, as usual, the Divine authority under which the Czar always professes to act, and the completeness of his successes. The letter is published in the Journal of St. Petersburg of April 5—
" Prince Michael Dmitrievitch ! By the brilliant passage of the Danube, effected on the 11th of this month, you have crowned the Russian arms with new glory. The troops under your personal command having effected at
three points the passage on the right bank of this river, have earned by storm several redoubts of the enemy. Disturbed by our bold attacks, the Turks fled, and abandoned to us, without striking a blow in their defence, the fortresses of Tultsba and Matchin, defended by garrisons of fifteen thousand men. Seeing in this exploit an earnest of our future successes against the enemies of sacred religion and our country, I charge you to ex- press to our brave troops, as also to their valiant leaders, my most sincere gratitude. In conferring upon you at the same time, as a testimony of my heartfelt gratitude for your distinguished services, my portrait enriched with diamonds, that it may be worn at the button-hole, I remain invariably your affectionate NieitoLs.s. "St. Petersburg, March 21, 1854."
The other incident is not a flourish, but a fact ; and it is more sub- stantially unpleasant to us than the Imperial bravado. A telegraphic despatch from Copenhagen, dated yesterday, reports that "the frigate Amphion, 34, Captain Key, is ashore near Dragoe : all attempts to get her off have hitherto proved fruitless." A bad omen : but sometimes omens are reversed ; especially bad ones, when those who can interpret them bring to the work in hand modest diligence rather than boast- ful presumption.
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