furtigu uh nInnial.
THE Cersuse.—The authentic intelligence from Sebastopol reaches down to the 28th November ; when General Canrobert reports as follows to the Minister of War at Paris " The rain has ceased, and the weather seems disposed to improve. Our works of all kinds, lately impeded by the bad state of the roads and trenches, will now assume a new vigour. Our reinforcements continue to arrive ; and I have just received the Sixth Regiment of Dragoons, the Sixth Battalion of Chasseurs a pied, besides various detachments of different regiments. The enemy still shows no signs of activity, but continues to protect the town by repeated intrenchments." The intelligence published in the Russian journals comes down to the 27th; and is to this effect, that the fire of the besiegers was growing slacker ; that they were obviously strengthening their position and erecting new batteries; and that the English had attempted to establish themselves near the head of the dockyard, but had been repulsed with loss. There is also a German report, not corroborated by General Canrobert, that the English had, before the 26th, taken two Russian batteries of seven guns each, and had kept both the works and the guns.
The Russians have sunk another man-of-war across the mouth of the harbour.
The full details of the great tempest in the Black Sea bear out the statement of the afflicting loss briefly forwarded by the telegraph. The gale which rose on the 13th blew from the South-west, and hurled the sea furiously against the ships at anchor off the Katclia, outside the liarhour of Balaklava, and at Eupatoria. At all these places the Allied fleets suffered severe loss in ships and in life. One of the letters from a man-of-war, dated the 15th November, narrating the events at the Katcha commences thus,—giving a good idea of the state of feeling in the fleet
" Thank God, I am alive, and able to give you an account of the horrors I have witnessed and escaped during the last two days. On Tuesday we expected every moment to be either drowned or taken prisoners, such was the fury of the gale we have just experienced. The oldest sailors say they have never been in such danger : not only was there the fearful gale to dread, but a lee-shore within a mile and a quarter of us, and some fifty sail of all sorts around us."
The gale on the 13th was little heeded, as the barometer rose and nothing indicated bad weather, and a notion prevailed in the fleet that gales in the Black Sea do not "blow home." Even on the morning of the 14th, the stiff breeze created no alarm, until the squalls lengthened about ten o'clock to a hurricane ; and the men-of-war began to let go additional anchors. Fortunately, the men-of-war have been accustomed to test their cables, or the loss would have been still more tremendous. About ten o'clock, the transport Ganges began to drive, and fouled the Pyrenees. "Spars snapped like rotten sticks ; jib-booms, bowsprits, yards, masts, all shared the same crash, the two ships grinding together in the most awful manner."
These two ships bore down on the Sampson war-steamer, and in ten minutes nothing but her funnels was left standing—" she was a complete wreck." The Ganges brought up for a moment on parting from the Sampson, but the Pyrenees drove onward to the beach. Meanwhile, further out at sea, the French war-ships Bayard and Jupit,er fouled ; but by good management got clear. The Terrible parted her cable, and was among the breakers. "Every moment we expected she would go on shore ; but soon the paddles revolved, the remaining cable was slipped, and, right in the teeth of the gale, steamed out the splendid Terrible. This was the most cheering sight during the whole of this eventful day ; and a glorious sight it certainly was to see that steamer going through everything, and proving the mighty conquest of man over the elements. Our situation all the time was most critical. Right ahead of us were four French liners, one or two of which had already driven, and if any of them parted their cables our destruction was inevitable ; and, to make it, if possible, worse, there was the knowledge that we could do nothing, but must patiently abide our lot, whatever Providence thought fit for that lot to be. We had done our all—the result was in God's hands. About two o'clock the view all around was most distressing : about a dozen transports were driving, four or five had cut away their masts, while only five or six were riding at all hopefully. Near us was a little brig, which we remarked as doing capitally, when, all of a sudden, her masts went over the side ; still she rode on ; but now, alas ! the little ship lies on shore with scarcely two timbers holding together, so utterly has the sea broken her up. Near us also was the Lord Raglan, a splendid ship, just new, of about 700 tons ; she too rode on most capitally. Close astern was the little Beagle ; how she escaped being swamped is to me a marvel, as, although we were not above a hundred yard., from her, continually from the height of the sea we could see nothing but the tops of her masts : still she rode on, and, although she rolled enough to roll everything out of her, yet she seemed to keep herself pretty dry.. Astern of her was the Algiers; she rolled, if anything, worse than the Beagle, and carried away one cable: still she held on, and this morning steamed out into safe anchorage. All the steamers had their wheels and screws going, which of course made them much safer, by taking a good deal of the strain from the cables. At nightfall there were five transports on shore, and others in a very precarious state. A most fearful night we passed ! Every now and then a sea struck the ship with such violence that she staggered from end to end, so that it seemed impossible for iron or hemp to hold her. About 230 a. m. a rattle was heard, and we all fancied a cable had parted; fortunately, however, it was a false alarm—all three still held on."
Next morning the wind abated ; but daylight showed a pitiable sight. Ten transports were ashore ; two were riding out the gale with their masts cut away ; the only Turkish ship off the liatcha, a two-decker with the Admiral's flag flying, had nothing but her mainmast and bowsprit left ; the French war-ships Ville de Paris, Bayard, and Friedland, and the British war-ship London, had lost their rudders ; and the Britannia, the only ship that took a good offing on the 13th, had four or five feet of water in her hold. During the 15th, the Cossacks came down -to the beach in swarms, pounced upon everything thrown up by the sea, and carried off some prisoners. The letters from the spot leave no doubt that they acted with their usual inhumanity ; as these extracts, selected from various sources, will show.
" One French bark is full of soldiers, and at them the enemy kept up a continual fire : the poor wretches could not leave their position, owing to everything being washed away, so that they had to cling to the bulwarks for safety, thus affording an excellent mark for the Russians., who took great advantage of it. And yet the savages call themselves Christians."
" Meanwhile, hordes of Cossacks and cavalry hovered round the wrecks, and, as each of the smaller vessels was thrown up, were seen occupied in examining what the chances of the sea and war had sent them. We could see the French sailors led off towards Sebastopol with horsemen before and be. hind them. Our transports from their greater burden were as I have stated, at some distance from the shore ; and the Cossacks rode backwards and forwards, regarding them as we read a hungry fox did some grapes in the &rya of sEsop. Darkness fell that evening on anxious hearts, and few eyes could have closed that night amid the roaring of the pitiless and unabated storm. Soon after midnight its force was broken' and men thanked God, for neither hemp nor iron could have stood such a strain much longer. But the sea continued as heavy as ever during the darkness, which was only broken by the lurid flash of the cannon over Sebastopol, showing that the war of the elements had been powerless to suspend that of men The Cossacks had been busy during the day ; and they made one or two attempts even to swim off to our transports ; but were carried back by the surf, aided by a knock or two on the head from our merchant-sailors, who by no means relished the idea of a Christmas in Sebastopol. One gentleman, in a carriage, drove down to the beach, near the Tyrone, and in good English exhorted the sailors to make a trial of Muscovite forbearance. 'We too,' said he, suiting the action to the words, have hearts as well as the English.' I will not give the reply in extenso; suffice it to say, it was what somebody calla 'John Bull's great everlasting no,' accompanied by some strong adjectives. No fire had been opened on the enemy during the day from the fleet, and it was determined not to do so till they proceeded to overt acts of hostility. About four p. in. volunteer boats from the Queen, Rodney, London, and some steamers, pulled in, and the Firebrand got under weigh to cover them. On seeing them approaching, the Cossacks drew up on the cliff, and fired on the boats, killing a man belonging to the Queen. This fire was immediately returned from the steamer, and they at once scurried off. The surf prevented the crews being rescued till the morning of the 16th; when they were recovered by the boats of the Firebrand and other steamers, after having in one of the ships fired a parting salvo at the Russians with cartridges which had been collected from the field of Alma."
In the course of Wednesday, Captain Michell, of the Queen war-ship, requested and obtained permission by signal to assist the wrecks. Three boats went off and reached the Pyrenees ; but a boat from the Britannia was forced to put back ; and a boat of the Ville de Paris, with its crew, was forced on shore and seized by the Russians. The Queen's boats, however, rescued forty or fifty men and two soldiers' wives ; and next day eighty persons were taken on board the Queen, and twenty on board the Fury, while the Simoon rescued the French soldiers who had been exposed all night.
Mr. Livesay, the captain of the Lord Raglan, has sent to his employer, Mr. Dunbar, a modest account of his own able efforts to save the ship. By degrees he cut down all his masts except the foremast ; he let go the stream-cable, but found all of no avail. At dark he found ".there was nothing left for it but to beach her." This he did, very cleverly managing to avoid fouling the other ships ; sending all his men below to prevent their being washed overboard, and running ashore atom on, keeping the ship well on her port side next the shore. He describes the dreadful havoc which Wednesday morning disclosed, much as it is described above ; and tells how the boats of the men-of-war tried to get at the wrecks, but failed. He confirms the statements that the brutal Cossacks fired upon him and others.
The Ganges and the Pyrenees were fired, by some mischance, and destroyed • and the Lord Raglan alone seems likely to be saved.
At Baaklava the scene was equally terrible; aggravated by the loss of the Prince, which contained the winter clothing for the troops, a vast mass of ammunition, and 300 lives. The correspondent of the Times at Constantinople gives the following details " The tempest commenced at Balaklava about seven o'clock in the morning; and in two hours eleven transports had been wrecked and six dismasted and rendered unfit for service. The most terrible disaster is the total loss of the new magnificent steam-ship Prince; which arrived here a few days since with the Forty-sixth Regiment and a cargo valued at 500,0001., and indispensably necessary for the prosecution of the siege and the comfort of the army. The loss of the Prince seems to have been partly owing to the negligence of her officers. When she arrived at Balaklava she let go one of her anohors in thirty fathoms water. It appears that the cable had never been clinched, and the whole of it ran out; anchor and cable were lost together. She then let go the other anchor; the cable of which was so inefficiently fastened that she lost this also. She then steamed out to sea until she could get up another cable from the hold ; and at last let go a small anchor, with which she rode until the tempest broke upon her on Tuesday morning. An eye-witness saw her carried from her moorings on to the rocks with such force that in ten minutes there was hardly a piece a yard long remaining. She might almost be said to go to powder. Of a crew of 150 only six were saved. This splendid vessel of 2700 tons was purchased by Government some time since, and sent out full of most valuable stores and munitions of war. Everything is lost. With the exception of the troops, everything remained in her at the time she was dashed on the rocks. The whole of the winter clothing for the men has gone down,-40,000 suits of clothes, with under garments, socks, gloves, and a multitude of other articles of the kind, vast quantities of shot and shell, and not least in consequence, the medical stores sent out in consequence of the deficiencies which formerly existed. The latter were, with not Uncommon negligence, stowed away under the shot and shell, and could not be landed at Scutari. They are now lost, at a time when the demand for them is likely to be more urgent than ever, and when the commissariat is fully occupied in ministering to the wants of those who still remain unhurt.
"The other British vessels lost at Balaklava are—the Resolute, [with 700 tons of gunpowder for the siege,] all hands lost ; the Rip Van 'Winkle, all lost; the Wild Wave, one or two saved ; the Kenilworth, all lost ; the Progress, some saved ; the Wanderer, all lost ; the Marquis, all lost ; the Mary Ann, all lost ; the Pultowa, all saved ; the Caduceus, dismasted and abandoned. The following are dismasted and unfit for service—the Pride of the Ocean ; the Medura ; the Melbourne, screw-steamer, flag of Captain Christie; the Sir It. Sale, the Minchee, and the Lady Valiant. The lose of men at Balaklava is about 340."
General Canrobert, in a despatch to the French Minister at War, dated November 17, gives his view of the storm
"We were visited on the 14th by a most violent hurricane ; but it is proved by significative facts that its violence was exceptional even in this month. .A disaster was to have been dreaded for the fleets, but it did not take place; but we have nevertheless to deplore some serious damages. I have come to an understanding with the Admiral not to keep more than the number of vessels rigorously necessary, and with sufficient conditions of security. This visitation will not affect our operations ; they follow their usual course."
In the camp itself the tempest was hardly less fearful. Men and officers walking about drenched to the skin; the tents all blown down ; the French hospitals broken by the gale, leaving the wounded exposed to the sleet and rain. So strong was the blast that the Monastery of St. George " was shaken to its foundations and much damaged," some of its iron gates flung down, and pieces of stone wall and iron roofing "carried away like pieces of paper,' for a mile. " We breathe again, like men who have escaped from a ,disaster," writes one from the camp, on the 18th: "fine weather and a bright sun have reappeared, and we are en.deavouring to profit by the rude lesson which Heaven has sent us."
The Retribution, with the Duke of Cambridge on board, was forced to sacrifice her upper-deck guns.
The disasters at Eupatoria are said to have eclipsed those at the Eatcha. The correspondent of the Morning Chronicle gives this account—
"A first glance at Eupatoria after the storm showed that it had suffered even more than the liatcha. True, the Bellerophon and Leander rode it out ; but the total wreck of an Egyptian line-of-battle ship, and near the beach the tricolor floating mournfully over the Henri Quatre, strong and erect as ever, but we fear never again to carry the flag of France to victory, as well as the stranded transports in front and to the Southward of the town, told a dreary story. In front lie the stranded remains of five French merchantvessels ; just beyond it, along the sandy isthmus, between the sea and Lake Saeik,lie what three days ago were strong and well-found ships, in the following order commencing from the town—No. 81, Georgina ; No. 61, Harbinger ; French Government screw-steamer Pluto ; No. 3, Her Majesty ; No. 55, Glendalough ; a small French steamer ; No. 53, Asia ; an Egyptian two-decker ; ltenri Quatre, 100 guns, Captain Palm. All these ships, with the exception of the two line-of-battle ships, stranded during the day. Henri Quatre parted after the force of the
The Times correspondent gives due praise to the Commissariat, but adds a picture of camp life, the "reverse" side of the medal of glory.
"Mr. Commissary-General Filder deserves the greatest praise for his exertions in supplying our men with food. The stories which have
been circulated respecting the insufficiency and irregularity of the supply of meat, biscuit, and spirits are base calumnies. No army was ever fed with more punctuality ; and no army, I believe, was ever so well fed under such very exceptional circumstances as those in which we are placed. The writers who describe the Southern Crimea as a land flowing with milk and honey forget that to us it is a forbidden Eden, and that the Cossack stands at the gate to bar our approach. We have eaten up everything edible within the precincts of the little angle of which we maintain possession by force of arms : the hay has been consumed, the vegetables have been consumed, the grapes have been consumed, —nay, the very leaves have been boiled for food, and the vines used for fuel; the cattle and sheep have been consumed ; and we are now masters of a huge camp as sterile as a rock, and from which the last vestige of shrub or tree will soon disappear under the camp-kettle. We are fed by Balaklava alone ; thence comes our daily bread. It has to be carried out day by day ; and yet no man in this army has ever been without his pound of good biscuit, his pound and a half or pound of good beef or mutton, his quota of coffee, tea, rice, and sugar, or his gill of excellent rum, for any one day, except it has been through his own neglect. We draw our hay, our corn, our beef, our mutton, our biscuits, spirits, and necessaries of all kinds from beyond sea. Eupatoria supplies us with cattle and sheep to a moderate extent ; but the commissanat of the army depends, as a general rule, on seacarriage. "Nevertheless, large as are our advantages in the excellence and regularity of the supply of food, the officers and men have had to undergo great privations. The oldest soldiers here never witnessed or heard of a eampaign in which general officers were obliged to live out in tents on the open field, for the want of a roof to cover them ; and.generals who passed their youth in the Peninsular war, and who have witnessed a good deal of fighting since that time in various parts of the world, are unanimous in declaring that they never knew or read of a war in which the officers were exposed to such hardships. They landed, as most of us remember, without anything but what they could carry; and they marched beside their men, slept by them, fought by them, and died by them undistinguished from them in any respect, except by the deadly epaulette and sword-belt, which have cost so many lives to the country. The survivors have often been unable to get their things from on board ship. They have lain down atnight in the clothes which they wore during the day ; many delicately nurtured youths have never changed shirt or shoes for weeks together, and they are deprived of the use of water for ablution, except to a very limited extent. Rank and fashion,' under such circumstances, have fallen a prey to parasitical invasion,—an evil to which the other incidents of roughing it are of little momentThe officers are in rags. Guardsmen who were the best style of man' in the Parks now turn out in coats and trousers and boots all seams and patches, torn in all directions, and mended with more vigour than neatness ; and our smartest Cavalry and Line men are models of ingenious sewing and stitching. The men cannot grumble at old coats, boots, or shoes, when they see their officers no better off than themselves. We have out here soldiering with the gilding off' ; and many a young gentleman would be for ever cured of his love of arms if he could but see one day's fighting and have one day's parade of the men who do it. Fortunate it is for us that we have a youth on whom to rely, and that there are in old England men who delight in war,' and who will be ever ready to incur privation, danger, and death, at her summons. As to young ladies suffering from scarlet fever '—the pupils of the L. E. L.' school, who are for ever thinking of heroes and warriors, singing of champions, of crowning conquerors' brows with flowers,' and wishing for Arab steeds and falchions bright,'—if they could but for one instant have steed beside me and gazed into one of the pits where some thirty 'clods of the valley,' all covered with scarlet and blue cloth, with lace and broidery, and blood, were lying side by aide, and staring up at heaven with their sightless orbs as they were about to be consigned to the worm, they would feel the horrors of their hero-worship, and would join in prayer for the advent of that day—if come it ever may—when war shall be no more, and when the shedding of blood shall cease."
The newspapers both in town and country continue to teem with letters from officers and privates, on incidents of the bloody battle of Inkerman : some even go so far back as the battle of the Alma.
From IV. Wright, a Drummer in the Forty-seventh.—" Tell my wife to cheer up and keep up her spirits, for I believe that God will spare me to go home to her ; and tell her that in the middle of the battle her image is always before my eyes; that when I am fatigued with hardships I always think of meeting her, and that gives me fresh courage to endure all my hardships; tell her that I never forget her for a moment, and that, if it please God to let me fall in the battle, my last moments will be thinking of her, and praying that God will raise some good friends for her. Recollect it is my wish that she will always keep up her heart, and be prepared for everything that may happen to me. I sent her 30s. by the Paymaster : I hope she has got it all right ; and as soon as this fortress is taken I will send her more money. Dear Harry, the climate is very cold here, and I have not a shirt to put on my back ; in fact, the whole army is ragged. I shall want to get a kit of shirts the first thing. There are plenty of men barefooted, and have no socks, only as they take them off the dead Russians. . . . . I must leave off, as we have got the order to stand to our arms. The enemy is coming on us in great force. The letters are going away, and I cannot say all that I would wish to say to you; but God bless you, Harry, and all that are dear to you. Give my never failing love to my poor beloved wife."
From a Surgeon in the Guards.—" The barbarous cruelty of our foe was not confined to the officers ; many of the poor soldiers suffered severely, and one poor fellow had received a gun-shot wound which would have been amenable to operative proceedings had he not been so severely injured by bayonet wounds in other parts of his body, from the effects of which he sank. It was not a single instance, for in many eases they were first stabbed and afterwards jumped upon."
From an Artilleryman.—"The weather has been dry as yet, except two or three days' rain ; but we have been wonderfully taken care of by God : He alone can guide and provide for us. General Lord Raglan is well liked by the troops; he does all in his power for us. I must now conclude, and thank you much for your kind promise to Susan and my little one. I can go now and face danger with a much better heart, knowing; that while you can she will never want, and she deserves all : she made me happy and comfortable. I trust in God we may meet again. I have sent her 2/. 10s. for September, October, and November. She will get it, return or not, till further orders, thanks to the society in Woolwich."
From Benjamin Davis, Sergeant, First Battalion Sects Fusiliers." Please to give my kind love to them all. Tell them I think I have done the whack' for our family, having fired at the Hessians upwards of 200 cartridges ; and I assure you I am not the worst of shots, some, perhaps, will say this is nothing to brag about ; however, it is war-time, and I am one of those fellows who would rather shoot than be shot. I, like some of my poor comrades who are gone, stood my chance ; but I am, thank Clod, still left to fire another shot for my Queen and country. Hurrah, then, for England! I am sure I shouted these words a dozen times the other day in the presence of the enemy. I assure you the Russians did not forget to shout either. They thought they had got the Guards nicely ; but, thank (led, we took them in. Why, they were enough to eat us, let alone take us prisoners, which they never would have done. Never, slue° the Guards were Guards, could they have fought better, or with more bravery than they did the other day—the officers in particular. Nothing could surpass their bravery. I am sorry to say, too many of these gallant gentlemen lost their lives and were wounded."
From a Rilleman.—" I kept all right until about three o'clock in the afternoon ; when, unhappily, I got shot right through the leg, the ball entering in the back of my leg and coming out at the front. I fell ; and at the time I fell the Russians were not above six yards from me ; but, thank God, the _bushes hindered them from seeing me, as God only knows what they would have done with me, for all our wounded men they came across they stabbed ; and there was about five regiments passed me as I lay, and then our men drove them back just by me again. Father, judge of my feelings, lying on the field of battle, and the enemy in front ot me end rear, and no one to help me out of it, until God sent me relief by sending a Guardsman just by me, and I called to him and asked him to help me out of the place where I was to my own regiment, which I had lost. He did, thank God, and I got safe to my camp. Our regiment very near all got killed and wounded."
From the Morning Post Correspondent.—":All the wounded English and French had been removed before the morning of the 7th ; but there were still a few Russians, who were moaning and begging to be taken to the hospitals. Burying the Russians had not commenced, but there were only a very few Englishmen whom their comrades had not laid in their graves. I saw one of these, as the officer of his company came with his men to take him away ; and he remarked to me—' I saw this poor fellow, when he was down, shot through the leg, and spoke to him ; but he only said, 'Go on, sir, never mind me, I shall be all right.' We had to retire for a few minutes, and when we came over theground again, you see how he had been stabbed.' A bayonet had been driven into his head, and several mortal thrusts made through his breast."
Captain Low (now Major) at Bal«klava.—" This gallant soldier entered the service in 1835, and has constantly served, on the full pay of the cavalry, since that year. Slightly above the middle size, his broad chest and shoulders, long arms, narrow girth, fine manly countenance, with the long, light, Saxon moustache, altogether form a figure the very beau id6alof the light cavalry sabreur ; and such he nobly proved himself on that day so fatal yet so famous for the light cavalry of Britain. After that terrible charge, in which he slew or unhorsed several of the enemy, dealing sabre-strokes every one-of which carried death with it, he found himself almost alone among the enemy's horsemen, three of whom bore down upon the British cavalier, one on each flank and one in front. Seizing his revolver, he shot the two first right and left, and, cutting down the third with his sabre, his good horse bounded over him, and, although, with a jaw broken by a grape-shot, carried his heroic rider safe into the British lines."—" Veteran" in the Times.
From Joseph Coulter, 18, of the Scots Fusiliers, wounded at the Alma.— " We had fought about an hour upon the high ground before I was struck. My front rank was shot dead. I took his place and was firing away as fast as ever. In a few minutes a musket-ball went through my right arm. It was just like a pin touching me at the time. I continued firing about five
minutes; then I got a ball in the left breast. I never fell; but, thank God, the ball passed quick as lightning through my back, just below my
shoulder. The wound is three or four inches higher before than it is behind, because the enemy were higher than we, they tiring in a slanting direction. I thought at the time the ball was in my chest. I fired thrice after this, then I reeled like a drunken man : I could scarcely stand for the want of blood. I was not able to load the fourth time after this shut. We were now within sea yards of some of the neseises, and every monieut walking over their dead and wounded. We just got the words 4 tiharge bayouets! as I fell to the rear. I threw my firelock from me—I had my blanket and greatcoat on my back ; I pitched them off. I was staggering down the bill as well u I could, when I was soon struck on the arm with a bit of shell. I had not time to say a word till another ball went through my left thigh. I got about twenty yards further down, then fell on my face. I never got timorous till then. The balls were flying over me by Wholesale. I tried to get up, and, with the help of God, I got to my feet once more. I was not one minute on my feet till a ball struck me on the first joint of the middle finger of my left hand ; and broke it. I still kept my feet, and got to the bottom of the hill; where I fell, and lay for four hours before I was carried away."
TURKEY.—Another change in the destination of the Turkish army is reported. According to a telegraphic despatch from Bucharest, dated Wednesday, and published by the .Daily News, "40,000 Turks and 100 guns will be embarked at Baltschik and at Varna next week for the Crimea. One regiment remains at Bucharest. Danisk Bey replaces Masser Pasha as commandant of the town. Masser Pasha superintends the embarkation. Omar Pasha will leave in a few days."
Accounts received both from Bucharest and Constantinople represent the condition of the Turkish army in no favourable light, but confirm all that has been said about the fewness of its numbers, the absence of discipline, and the want of clothing. They also ridicule the idea of an invasion of Bessarabia by Omar Pasha.
The accounts of the state of our hospitals at Scutari continue to notice the great improvements, and show that the routine of the service is fast settling down into order and completeness. "The general management," says the hospital correspondent of the limes, "leaves little ground for serious complaint." Miss Nightingale and her staff are gratefully mentioned. The importance of their aid, brief as it had been, was 'fully established." Lady Stratford was repeatedly at the hospital, "exercising her private benevolence " ; and Lord Stratford himself had been there inspecting. A welcome supply of newspapers had arrived on the 21st, and the strong-voiced convalescents read aloud to the wounded the stories of the war in the Crimea.
"One thing which impresses itself very strongly upon the mind of a visitor to the hospitals at Scutari is the patience and the quiet manly fortitude expressed in the countenances of so many men, suffering as they are from the most dire bodily injuries. You may pass from one long gallery to another between rows of poor fellows, for the most part still stretched upon shakedown mattresses; and though you see many who have undergone amputation, still more with fractured limbs, others with their heads or faces bandaged, not a murmur or groan is heard, and the vast majority look cheerful and contented."
But there were still some things to be rectified. Of three thousand men in the hospitals, the greater part were stretched on mattresses upon the floor—the bedsteads had been forwarded to Varna ; and a steamer sent expressly to fetch them had turned back on her voyage to tow a merchantman erchantman into the Bosphorus. Admiral Boxer at once ordered the steamer back to Varna. With reference to short medical supplies, it is said that Lord Stratford some time ago informed the medical airthorities that be was "commissioned to supply, at any coat, whatever might be required" ; but no application had been made to him.
One grievance causing great dissatisfaction at Constantinople was this. Some of the officers wounded at the Alma took up their residences at Pera at their own expense : many have subsequently become so ill that it was necessary they should return home : before they could obtain leave, a Board of three Army Surgeons must give their consent ; but many were too ill to cross to Scutari, and the Surgeons were too busy to leave the hospital.
The number of men who died in hospital, from the 14th to the 19th November inclusive was 63.
Russia.—Military movements, regarded as symptoms of an approaching conflict with Austria, are reported from Warsaw under date December 4. General Sievers, it is stated, is concentrating the First Infantry Corps of the Russian army, (about 52,000 men,) with a portion of the Imperial Guard, recently gent to Poland, on the left bank of the Vistula, —in other words, on the extreme Western frontier of the Russian empire; while General Paniutine is advancing with the Second Infantry Corps on Podolia and Volhynia.
"The Neva," says a recent letter from Hamburg, "was entirely frozen over at St. Petersburg on the 26th ult. All the works in the farts situate at its mouth, on the sea-side, and those constructing on the islands in front of that capital, bad been suspended on account of the winter. The Emperor, by a recent rescript addressed to the superior officers of the engineering department, had expressed to them his satisfaction with the zeal and intelligence they had displayed in the execution of those works."
An Imperial ukase raises the state of siege at St. Petersburg.
The Emperor has directed that a body of riflemen should be raised out of the peasants on the Imperial domains. But he does not stop there : in spite of express stipulations when Finland was conquered, we loam from Copenhagen, that by ukase dated November 13, "the Czar has illegally ordered the establishment of two more battalions of Finnish 'indelis' or peasant colonist troops. This makes six battalions, all sharpshooters. It is evident that this form of conscription is becoming a dreadful scourge to the people, both as regards men and their support : but there is no one to protest against the perjury of the Emperor, or to lay bare the sufferings of the peasantry."
The text of the despatch from Count Nesselrode to the Russian Ambassador at Berlin, containing the precise terms of the propositions of peace put forward by the Czar, and dated November 6, has been published. The terms were stated in substance last week. The Czar only considers them as starting-points of negotiation. He founds this determination on the supposition that the Western Powers will fulfil their engagements to protect the Christians, and that "thus the chief okteet Russia has in view in the present war shall be obtained." He treats Austria and Prussia as offering to negotiate ; and, addressing himself especially to the Confederation, he trusts that it will repel any pretext for advancing fresh conditions incompatible with the dignity of Russia. "The Emperor thinks that, in return for the deference with which be has accepted the prayers addressed to him, he has a right in all justice to demand of them a neutrality maintained with all firmness and perseverance, such as was proclaimed at the commencement of the present contest."
GEB.MANY. —The chief fact of importance in the news from Germany is the confirmation of the report of last Saturday, that a treaty of Jaime° has been eigned by Austria and the Western Powers. The precise terms of the instrument Irave not yet been made public, but the Paris correspondent of the 3foreting Chronicle furnishes what he describes as " an exact sued complete summary of its contents,"—a summary which has been generally remixed.
"The treaty commences by repeating and recording the declarations and the principal acts of the conference of Vienna, as well as the declarations and engagements contained in the notes exchanged on the 8th of August 1864 between the high contracting parties. It maintains the four points of guarantee as the necessary basis of peace, at the same time that it reservea and recognizes to each of the Powers the faculty of extending them by additional conditions. Austria binds 'herself to France and England, as she had already done to Turkey by the treaty of the 14th June 1854, to occupy the Principalties for the purpose of repulsing the Russian troops, if they attempted to reenter them. Austria proclaims the right, as justly belonging to 'furkey and to the Allies, of making all the movements which may suit them for the purpose of attacking either the Russian troops or the Russian territory. If, in consequence of her attitude in the Principalities, or for any other cause, Austria should find herself at war with Russia, the alliance, offensive and defensive, between her, France, andEngland, shall be established by the fact of the war. If, before the end of the present year 1854, Russia should not have made propositions which are considered acceptable, and which insure good and durable peace, the three Powers will advise as to the means of obtaining that peace. The three high contracting Powers bind themselves not to accept any preposition for the reestablishment of peace without having deliberated upon it in common."
According to the Paris correspondent of the Morning Post, the treaty was adopted on the 6th by the Prussian Cabinet, assembled under the presidence of the King,—to the great surprise of the Russian party.
Our second edition last week contained the following additional article of the treaty of the 20th April. It was formally communicated to the Earl of Westmoreland on the 28th, and to the Germanic Diet on the 30th November.
"The continued threatening state of the affairs of Europe has induced the high Courts of Vienna and Berlin to consider the necessity of an understanding,proper to complete the provisions of the treaty of the 20th of April. "The high Sovereigns-have coincided in this consideration, that, in as far as regards the treaty of the 20th of April, extended by the federal decision of the 24th of July, it is above all things necessary to act in common, in order to bring about the acceptation by the Diet of a basis for the future negotiations of peace,—a basis which would be recognized by them as a proper one,—
"They acknowledge, that each a basis is to be found in the four preliminary points, in favour of the adoption of which Austria and Prussia have already interfered with the Court of Russia ; and they will endeavour, according to circumstances, M procure for that basis a favourable reception. Although the hope of advancing towards a pacific understanding depends on the adoption of that basis, the general situation of Europe, and the necessity of pursuing the object of peace with more force, requires that the whole of Germany should aet with onion. Guided by that idea, and appreciating all the dangers which might moult for Germany from an attack against the Austrian troops, not only if the Russians entered into the Austrian territories, but also into the Principalities, his Majesty the King of Prussia takes by these presents, with regard to his august ally his Majesty the Emperor of Austria the engagement of giving him assistance even in this last case; and he reckons that the other members of the German Confederation will also testify, and will prove, in case of necessity, by their acceptance of the present additional article, the same anxiety to offer assistance to Austria. "Done at Vienne, this 26th day of November 1854. "Comte De Buos. Comte D'Auesr."
At its sitting on the 24 instant, the Committee on the Affairs of the East, appointed by the Diet, unanimously adopted this article. The vote included even that of Wurtemberg and Mecklenberg.
The substance of the sole point in the speech of the King of Prussia on the opening of the Chambers, of European interest, was given in our last number, by favour of the telegraph. The full speech, subsequently received, is not of a quality to increase our admiration. The speech begins with the wedding of the King's nephew, and closes with the paragraph about the war. The intermediate space is filled by trivial congratulations and commonplace announcements ; including the newly-constituted Upper House, the satisfactory condition of the finances, the favourable harvest as mitigating the preview high prices of the time, the imindations in Silesia, and measures of municipal administration: The Liberids have carried the election of Count Schwerin as President, and Bethman-Holweg as Vice-President of the Representative Chamber.
The marriage of Prince Friedrich Carl of Prussia with the Princess Anna Maria of Dessau was celebrated at Berlin on the 29th November. On the 28th, a railway carriage, decked with flowers, proceeded to Dessau to fetch the bride. On its return the guns of the neighbouring Prussian fortress fired a salute. All along the route the' authorities turned out to pay their respects; and-ein her arrival at Berlin, the Princess, accompanied by her suite, drove to Charlotteuberg; where the whole of the Prussian Royal Family received hers and where she saw her bridegroom for the first time. That night she returned to the Bellevue Palace. Next morning, snow-mud covered the ground, sleet fell before a cutting wind; but that did not prevent "all Berlin from being afoot." in the streets, presenting "on each side o, three or fourfold sew of dripping umbrellas, supported by soaking cloaks." Thrall& these streets, accompanied by troops of horse, the young Princess journeyed to the Palace in a state carriage, all glass and gilding; welcomed without the Brandenlierg Gate by twenty-four guns, and within by all the municipal authorities ; and at the Royal Schloss by the officers of the Court and the Royal Princes, the Prince of Prussia escorting the bride into the Schloss. Here she was received by the Princesses, and then by the King and Queen. In the evening the ,teretnonies recommenced. About seven o'clock the apartments at the &bless were filled by visitors, all sorted according to their rank. In a separate saloon were the King and Queen, the young couple, and their relations; and here, a body of household troops having fetched the nuptial crown, from the jewel-office, the Queen fastened it on the head of the bride, and all proceeded to the new chapel "at the top of the palace" : there the young lady and gentleman exchanged rings, by the intermediation of the officiating prelate,—the German symbol of marriage; and thirty-six guns were tired. Then, the whole procession returning, the newlysinarried and the regal company sat in a state saloon, "affecting to be playing at cards," while the whole company, approached reverently, bowed, and filed off, to card-tables ranged around. When supper was announced, the King broke up the card-party. At supper, the great functionaries wait on the royal party. After the soup, the King proposed the health of the bride, and the Court functionaries were per mitted to go and trup likewise. 13nt the most curious proceedings follow the supper. Twelve Ministers of State polo= a fackel-tanz, or torch dance, each holding a wax taper in his hand; then the King invites the bride, and mally the bride invites the Princes; so that the Ministerial dancers, thus augmented, parade three times round the room. The torch dance over, the 'bride is eonductedto her private apartments; the crown is returned to the jewel-office; and the bride's garter, or a substitute for it, is cut in pieces and distributed among the pages. Bach is a Prussian royal wedding in 1854. The guests at the Court included the King of Hanover and many German Dukes. The differences in Baden between the Government and the Roman Catholic Church have been laid before the Pope, and a convention for their adjustment has been adopted. .By. this convention, the proceeding against the Archbishop and all persons rmplicated in executing his ordinances have been withdrawn • and pending the final settlement of the points in dispute, the Archbishop and other Church authorities resume their former positions and powers. Fassrez.—The French Senate, which meets on the 26th, will have for its President, M. Troplong, first President of the Court of Cessation; first Vice-President, M. Mesnard ; the other Vice-Presidents will be M. Dretryn de flays, Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers, and General Regnanit de St. Jean d'Angely. M. Bilhailt, Minister of the Interim and Prince Joseph Poniatowsky, have been raised to the rank of Senators. The name of the President of the Legislative Body is not mentioned in the Imperial decrees making these appointments. When the telegraphic despatch announcing the signature of the treaty of alliance between Austria and the Western Powers reached Paris, on Saturday, the Emperor was giving an evening party at the Tuileries. The moment the despatch was handed to him, he read it aloud, "amidst the hearty congratulations of his guests." [Our ally has a first-rate eye for a dramatic "situation."] Sranc—Setior Madoz has been elected President of the Cortes, and Seiler Infante Vice-President. The vote in favour of the throne of Isabella was not carried without a smart debate, in •which the dissentients, were led by Sefior Orense, 'the Marquis of Albaida. There was much free speaking. Orense said, that since July the Queen had been "a thing" occupying the Palace, but not exercising the functions of a sovereign. The vote was ill-timed; it would place the Cortes in a false position; and by implying that the throne for four months had been provisional, it gave a deathblow to the monarchy. O'Donnell retorted, that the cry he and his men uttered when they charged at Vicalvaro was "Hurrah for Liberty! long live the Queen !"—that was the cry of the real revolution. Seiler Madoz not the President, said, "For my part, Senors, I will vote for the lonarchy ; for Isabella Segundet—never !" But he only found 21 to vote with 'him. The Chambers have passed a Vote of confidence in the Espartero Ministry, by 146 to 42. ITALY.—The Piedmontese Parliament reassembled on the '28th November, after the tepees. In the Chamber of Deputies, the 'Minister of Justice introduced a bill for the suppression of convents and other religious establishments, and measures for bettering the condition of the poorer classes of parish-priests. In the course of the sitting, replying to an Opposition Deputy, the Minister of Finance observed that the fact of an abundant harvest being followed by a rise in the praise ef corn, proved that in the best years the production 'of the country was not equal to its consumption. The average yearly importation ranged between 1,000,000 and 600,000 hectolitres. The harvest of the year had been above the average; and a very abundant supply has been obtained from the Black Sea. He thought that the free exportation of wheat ought not to be stopped. In the sitting on the 2a, M. Brolferio demanded an explanation of the policy of the Government. A French regiment was 'to pass through 'Piedmont, it was said; M. de Persigny was to come to Turin shortly; but it would be painful to see Piedmont dragged into an alliance with England and Frame, joined by Austria. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said, with regard to Austria, that the policy of the Government consisted in showing coldness towards that state until due reparation had been given. The "sympathies" of Piedmont, it was well known, lay with the Western Powers; but to sympathize, and to contract an alliance, were different things. Were an alliance ever to be contemplated, the Government would consult the Chambers. Thepassage of French cavalry was to take place on account of the difficulty Of conveying it by sea, and he could not see how Piedmont could compromise her neutrality by such a Step. Ile knew nothing of M. de Persigny's contemplated journey. CANADA.—The .third reading of the Clergy Beserves Secularization Bill was carried in the Legislative Assembly, at Quebec, on the 285 November. "The minority consisted of High Church Tories and extreme Reformers." Under date, " Quebec, November 16," 'we are informed that "the Legislative Assembly, lad night, unanimously voted 100,000E to the widows and orphans of the soldiers ofthe Allied forces who have fallen in the Eastern war."
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